Abstract: A system and method for determining a total ownership cost associated with a complex system (or a component thereof) includes a multi-disciplinary environment including at least one tool, a product data manager, and a total ownership costs assessment tools. The tools in the multi-disciplinary environment are used to gather information regarding the complex system. The product data manager receives the information from the tools and organizes the information as an information model representing the complex system. The total ownership cost assessment tool extracts various system and related scheduling aspects from the information model and determines the total ownership cost associated with the complex system (or the component thereof).

Abstract: In a power converter having m=two or more channels of power factor correction (PFC) circuits connected in parallel and an electromagnetic interference (EMI) filter connected in series therewith, phase shifts in switching between the respective PFC channels can allow increase of EMI filter corner frequency allowing reduction of size and cost of the EMI filter at some switching frequencies. Asymmetrical phase shifts (other than 360°/m) such as 360°/2m and other phase shifts and variations in m allow increase of EMI filter corner frequency at switching frequencies where symmetrical, 360°/m phase shifts provide no benefit to EMI filter design by providing cancellation or partial cancellation of different harmonics of the switching noise; which cancellation may be arranged to be complementary to the EMI filter function at more than one peak of the noise spectrum. (Such asymmetrical phase shifts do not significantly increase ripple and consequent switching noise).

Abstract: A voltage converter having four switches Q1, Q2, Q3, Q4, connected in series and operated in pairs in a complementary fashion. An input voltage is provided across the four switches. A middle capacitor is connected in parallel with two middle switches Q2, Q3. Voltage output is provided across switches Q3 and Q4 (i.e. at a midpoint of the four switches). Series-connected output capacitors can be connected in parallel with the set of four switches. The middle capacitor alone or in combination with parallel connected capacitors, when connected to the input voltage or output terminals functions as a capacitive voltage divider for voltage conversion and/or regulation with extremely high efficiency and which can provide either step-down or step-up function. Also, an output inductor can be provided as a perfecting feature to further increase efficiency. Alternatively, two of the four switches can be replaced with rectifying diodes.

Abstract: A resonant switched power converter having switching frequency controlled in response to an output voltage thereof achieves over-current protection such as at start-up or under short circuit conditions using a resonant tank circuit which provides a notch filter in addition to a band pass filter. A additional band pass filter provided in the resonant tank circuit achieves increased power transfer to a load and reduced circulating resonant currents and conduction losses. The inductances of the preferred LCLCL tank circuit or other tank circuit with two pass band filters and a notch filter may be integrated into a single electrical component.

Abstract: The process begins with separate device wafers having complimentary chips. Thin metal capture pads, having a preferred thickness of about 10 microns so that substantial pressure may be applied during processing without damaging capture pads, are deposited on both device wafers, which are then tested and mapped for good chip sites. A handle wafer is attached to one device wafer, which can then be thinned to improve via etching and filling. Capture pads are removed and replaced after thinning. The device wafer with handle wafer is diced, and good chips with attached portions of the diced handle wafer are positioned and bonded to the good chip sites of the other device wafer, and the handle wafer portions are removed. The device wafer having known good 3-D chips then undergoes final processing.

Abstract: A stressed film applied across a boundary defined by a structure or a body (e.g. substrate or layer) of semiconductor material provides a change from tensile to compressive stress in the semiconductor material proximate to the boundary and is used to modify boron diffusion rate during annealing and thus modify final boron concentrations. In the case of a field effect transistor, the gate structure may be formed with or without sidewalls to regulate the location of the boundary relative to source/drain, extension and/or halo implants. Different boron diffusion rates can be produced in the lateral and vertical directions and diffusion rates comparable to arsenic can be achieved. Reduction of junction capacitance of both nFETs and pFETs can be achieved simultaneously with the same process steps.

Abstract: Equipment failures are diagnosed using an integrated approach of case-based reasoning (CBR) and statistical reliability analysis. The method outputs a single list of suggested failed components, ranked by an overall probability of failure, and their associated past solutions from the case base. The overall probability of failure is calculated using the combined logic of case based reasoning and statistical reliability analysis. The method is typically used in a real-time decision support system to aid equipment diagnosis by a maintenance technician working in the field.

Abstract: Loss of decoding time prior to the vertical synchronization signal when motion video is arbitrarily scaled and positioned by placing the frame switch point at the completion of frame decoding and synchronizing the bottom border of the scaled image therewith while maintaining low latency of decoded data. High latency operation is provided only when necessitated by minimal spill buffer capacity and in combination with fractional image size reduction in the decoding path in order to maintain image resolution without requiring additional memory.

Abstract: A method for supporting semantic matching queries in a database management system (DBMS) by extracting and storing the transitive/subsumption relationships from a given ontology data in a DBMS with native XML support. These transitive relationships are transformed into a set of XML documents that are natural mappings of the hierarchical structure of the transitive relationships. A table function construct expresses semantic matching queries in a declarative manner. The semantic matching queried are automatically rewritten or translated into standard SQL/XML search operators such as XQuery, XPath and XMLExists, and executed by the SQL/XML DBMS on the given instance data and the extracted transitive relationships data.

Abstract: A method and system perform ranking-based evaluations for regression models that are often appropriate for marketing tasks and are more robust to outliers than traditional residual-based performance measures. The output provided by the method and system provides visualization that can offer insights about local model performance and outliers. Several models can be compared to each other to identify the “best” model and, therefore, the “best” model data for the particular marketing task.

Abstract: A method of repressing a cell-cycle gene, which is regulated by an E2F transcription factor, in a cell, wherein the method comprises contacting the cell with a cell-cycle gene-repressing amount of ErbB3 binding protein (Ebp1); a method of inhibiting prostate cancer in a mammal, wherein the method comprises administering to the mammal a prostate cancer-inhibiting amount of Ebp1; a composition comprising an Ebp1-expressing viral vector that expresses a cell-cycle gene-repressing amount of Ebp1; and a composition comprising polymer-packaged DNA comprising and expressing a cell-cycle gene-repressing amount of Ebp1.

Abstract: A method and system for secure distribution of digital content, using a disintegration tool under control of a distributor of the digital content to divide the digital content into protected and unprotected segments, delivering the unprotected segments to the customer along with installation software and identification information. The segments to be protected are modified using the identification information on the distribution medium and hardware information unique to a particular customer device. Upon communication of this information from the customer device, the modified segments are sent to the customer device for integration with the unprotected segments to generate a modified digital content operable only on the particular customer device.

Abstract: A method of detecting ?-D-ribofuranosidase activity in bacterial samples includes the step of incubating a sample to allow bacterial growth in the presence of chromogenic ?-D-ribofuranosidase substrate, the cleavage products of which produce an indicator, for instance observable visually. The substrate may be incorporated into solid growth media such as agar. It is of particular utility for detecting bacteria from the genera Yersinia, Shigella, Vibrio, and species Corynebacterium diphtheriae and Arcanobacterium haemolytica. The substrate may be a catechol compound, or an indoxyl compound.

Abstract: Multiple computer devices are networked, and one device is designated as a bookmark server. The bookmark server stores and maintains a master bookmark database that is available to all the networked devices. Each bookmark in the bookmark database includes a bookmark time stamp. If a bookmark is added, deleted or changed at any device, then a transaction request is sent to the bookmark server. The transaction request includes a transaction time stamp indicating the time that the transaction request was created. The bookmark server analyzes the transaction requests according to the time stamps. If multiple transaction requests are received for a single bookmark, then only the most recent transaction request is honored and other transaction requests related to the bookmark are ignored. Also, a transaction request is ignored if the transaction time stamp is older than the corresponding bookmark time stamp.

Abstract: A switched voltage regulator provides improved regulation at a lower clock rate/sampling frequency (e.g. several orders of magnitude lower than would be required for comparable regulation) while using a low resolution digital pulse width modulator such that limit cycle oscillations occur (and thus of low cost and complexity and small size) by limiting the amplitude of limit cycle oscillations which therefore need not be avoided by more complex arrangements which are not commercially feasible. Limiting of amplitude of limit cycle oscillations is achieved by adding essentially a digitized ripple voltage signal corresponding to the difference between the output of the voltage regulator and an average output of the voltage regulator as an input to the digital pulse width modulator.

Abstract: A method is provided for identifying a cost-minimizing bid set in a reverse combinatorial auction subject to various business rules for all-or-nothing bundled bids. The method includes introducing a decision variable for each bid, introducing a counting variable to indicate whether bids from a supplier are chosen in an optimal bid set, modeling demand constraints for each item using the bid variables, modeling minimum and maximum numbers of suppliers based on the counting variables, introducing dummy variables to ensure existence of feasible solutions, for a given cost formulating an objective of choosing bids that arrive early based on an additional timestamped objective with the given cost level as a constraint, and introducing price modifications to handle the formulated objective of choosing bids that arrive early.

Abstract: A system and method for tomographic image reconstruction using truncated limited-angle projection data that allows exact interior reconstruction (interior tomography) of a region of interest (ROI) based on the linear attenuation coefficient distribution of a subregion within the ROI, thereby improving image quality while reducing radiation dosage. In addition, the method includes parallel interior tomography using multiple sources beamed at multiple angles through an ROI and that enables higher temporal resolution.

Abstract: A system and method for allowing remote callers to access a secure telephone network maintains a registry (i.e. a database) of all remote callers that have access to the network. The registry contains an electronic serial number (ESN) and a personal identification number (PIN) for each remote caller. The ESN is typically the serial number of the callers cellular telephone. Alternatively, the ESN is a phone number of the remote caller's telephone. To establish a connection, the remote caller calls a private branch exchange (PBX) of the secure network. Upon receiving the call, the PBX compares the ESN and PIN of the remote caller with the ESN and PIN stored in the registry. If a match is found, the PBX authenticates the remote caller and allows the connection. The remote caller may have full access or access limited by a connection policy.

Abstract: An inkjet recording head includes a nozzle plate, chamber plate, and a diaphragm plate. The nozzle plate includes a plurality of nozzles for ejecting ink droplets, a plurality of connecting channels in communication with the nozzles and pressure chambers. The nozzles are formed in a row at a uniform pitch. The connecting channels extend from the nozzles alternately in opposite directions in a staggered formation and are offset a prescribed angle to a direction orthogonal to the row of nozzles. The chamber plate includes the pressure chambers, restrictors, and common ink chambers formed therein. Each pressure chamber has an elongated shape extending in a direction orthogonal to the row of nozzles. The pressure chambers are formed in rows, one on either side of the row of nozzles, so that the pressure chambers in one row oppose the corresponding pressure chambers in the other row. The diaphragm plate has a vibration plate that seals the pressure chambers.

Abstract: A design structure for capacitor having a suitably large value for decoupling applications is formed in a trench defined by isolation structures such as recessed isolation or shallow trench isolation. The capacitor provides a contact area coextensive with an active area and can be reliably formed individually or in small numbers. Plate contacts are preferably made through implanted regions extending to or between dopant diffused regions forming a capacitor plate. The capacitor can be formed by a process subsequent to formation of isolation structures such that preferred soft mask processes can be used to form the isolation structures and process commonality and compatibility constraint are avoided while the capacitor forming processes can be performed in common with processing for other structures.