Abstract: An architecture and method are provided for provisioning, configuring and deploying adaptive service oriented architectures through mounting provider systems on extended service containers and manipulating the instantiations of these containers so that the active instantiations can be optimized for the prevailing state within the service oriented architectures.

Abstract: An architecture and method are provided for provisioning, configuring and deploying adaptive service oriented architectures through mounting provider systems on extended service containers and manipulating the instantiations of these containers so that the active instantiations can be optimized for the prevailing state within the service oriented architectures.

Abstract: A signal processing circuit, the signal processing circuit comprising first and second waveguides, a series of successive couplers C.sub.i between the first and second waveguides, the couplers being spaced from each other along the first and second waveguides, the first and second waveguides having a delay differential .DELTA.L.sub.k between successive couplers C.sub.k-1 and C.sub.k, the delay differentials .DELTA.L.sub.k not being all the same. The first and second waveguides preferably have delay differentials between successive directional couplers defined by.beta..DELTA.L.sub.k =.beta.n.sub.k .DELTA.L+.PHI..sub.kwhere n.sub.k is a set of co-prime positive integers, .beta. is defined by .beta.+2.pi.n.sub.eff /.lambda., .DELTA.L is defined by .DELTA.L=c/n.sub.eff .DELTA.f, c is the speed of light in a vacuum, n.sub.eff is the effective refractive index of the conduit, .lambda. is a wavelength selected from a range of carrier wavelengths .lambda..sub.1 . . . .lambda..sub.

Abstract: An oven for the heat treatment of semiconductor substrates, especially a diffusion oven, having an upright, heatable quartz tube and a support system made of up rods or tubes into which one or more diffusion racks can be inserted which accommodate the wafer-like substrates separated from one another and substantially parallel to one another. To create a vertically operated oven having a rheologically efficient construction in which the support system for holding the diffusion racks will be highly variable, the support system has at least two vertical supports arranged parallel to one another, on which at least one rack rest 9 is disposed, on which rack rest the diffusion rack is placed such that the substrate wafers 8 stand substantially on edge during the treatment.

Abstract: An apparatus for loading a furnace with semiconductor wafers is known, which has at least two heat treatment chambers (1A, 1B, 1C, 1D), each of them having an associated stationary loading unit (8) with a receptacle movable in the direction of the furnace axis via a feed apparatus and having a loading system (2A, 2B, 2C, 2D) for semiconductor wafers. In order to provide such an apparatus for automatically loading the furnace with semiconductors which facilitates loading and overcomes the disadvantages of the known apparatuses, the apparatus according to the invention has a common central loading station (9) for all the semiconductor loading systems (2), and these loading systems are removable from the loading unit (8).