Abstract: An animal self-grooming system incorporating a platform supporting horizontally and vertically oriented brushes or combs which is usable by an animal without human intervention is disclosed. The brushes or combs are positioned such that they support walk-by and stationary self-grooming respectively as well as massage. An animal attraction substance may be applied to the brushes or combs for animal self-grooming training. A material that promotes claw exercise may optionally be applied to the vertical and/or horizontal structural components of the disclosed device to incorporate a “scratching post” appliance within the animal self-grooming system context.

Abstract: A distributed data storage system and method comprising a highly integrated mass storage controller system permitting distributed management and control of data storage is disclosed. The present invention in some preferred embodiments permits mass storage media to be made available on a network in a fashion to permit global access, while automatically handling many high-level file access and data integrity/security/control functions normally associated with a host operating system. This integration and redistribution of functionality permits spatial diversification of data resources, automatic mirroring of data, fault isolation, data security, and a plethora of other control functions to be integrated into the mass storage device. This integration permits peer-to-peer communication between mass storage devices to both unburden the host data consumers but also isolate the data management functions from the data presentation functions normally associated with host systems.

Abstract: An intellectual property (IP) brokering system and method (0110) incorporating an expert system permitting a customer (0120) to automate and optimize the use of IP agents (0130) to affect customer product realization (0140) is disclosed. The present invention in some preferred embodiments permits a customer to define a knowledge database with background and customer sensitivities as well as a requirements database for a given product to be created. This information is then mapped to available technical resources and design architectures by the expert system that then generates an optimized execution plan based on available resources. The disclosed invention permits global optimization of the customer requirements by coordinating disparate IP agents in a unified fashion to achieve an optimal utility function with respect to the desired customer product.

Abstract: A polysilicon resistor is formed using a late implant process. Low dopant concentrations on the order of 6×1019 to 3.75×1020 have shown good results. with a reduced post anneal temperature. Both the first and second order temperature coefficients (TC1 and TC2) can then be adjusted. Using electrical trimming resistors can be produced with highly linear temperature characteristics. By varying the geometries of the resistors, low trimming threshold current densities and voltages can be used to produce good results.

Abstract: A polysilicon resistor is formed using a late implant process. Low dopant concentrations on the order of 6×1019 to 3.75×1020 have shown good results. with a reduced post anneal temperature. Both the first and second order temperature coefficients (TC1 and TC2) can then be adjusted. Using electrical trimming resistors can be produced with highly linear temperature characteristics. By varying the geometries of the resistors, low trimming threshold current densities and voltages can be used to produce good results.