Abstract: Disclosed is a semiconductor fin construction useful in FinFET devices that incorporates an upper region and a lower region with wherein the upper region is formed with substantially vertical sidewalls and the lower region is formed with inclined sidewalls to produce a wider base portion. The disclosed semiconductor fin construction will also typically include a horizontal step region at the interface between the upper region and the lower region. Also disclosed are a series of methods of manufacturing semiconductor devices incorporating semiconductor fins having this dual construction and incorporating various combinations of insulating materials such as silicon dioxide and/or silicon nitride for forming shallow trench isolation (STI) structures between adjacent semiconductor fins.

Abstract: A cable receiver is disclosed that comprises a multimedia channel unit to receive a multimedia signal, and a multimedia processor to process the multimedia signal. The cable receiver further comprises a cable modem to perform data communication with an information provider that provides appendix information about the multimedia signal and a Web server that hosts a predetermined Web page through a cable network. An information processor adds appendix information to the multimedia signal, and a Web browser transmits request information received for the Web page according to a user's selection and processes the received Web page for the user. The cable receiver further comprises a controller to control data transmission of the cable modem, the information processor, and the Web browser to transmit the appendix information and the Web page to the information processor and the Web browser.

Abstract: User interfaces for a number of services offered by an information distribution system. In one method, first (e.g., interactive program guide) and second (e.g., video-on-demand) applications are provided to support a first and second user interfaces for first and second services, respectively. A control mechanism coordinates the passing of control between the applications. A root application supports communication between the first and second applications and a hardware layer. The control mechanism may be implemented with first and second message queues maintained for the first and second applications, respectively. Control may be passed to an application via a (launch) message provided to the associated message queue. Each application is operable in an active or inactive state. Only one application is typically active at any given moment, and this application processes key inputs at the terminal. The transition between the active and inactive states may be based on occurrence of events.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for preprocessing and preprocessing content in an interactive information distribution system. Content is retrieved from a storage medium and encapsulated in accordance to an Internet Protocol (IP) format. The encapsulated content is then uploaded for storage in a stream caching server and for future streaming of content to different types of access networks.

Abstract: An apparatus and a method for computing a Speech Absence Probability (SAP), and an apparatus and a method for removing noise by using the SAP computing device and method are provided.

Abstract: An analog/digital audio converting apparatus enables listening to both digital and analog audio signals received from a digital receiving apparatus and analog audio signals input from an external source using the same receiver by providing a formatter capable of converting the analog audio signal into a digital audio signal with the digital broadcasting receiving apparatus.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for adapting the delivery of assets and/or content to set top terminals within a heterogeneous information distribution system based on graphics and/or processing capability of set top terminals receiving the assets and/or content.

Abstract: Provided are improved methods for forming silicon films, particularly single-crystal silicon films from amorphous silicon films in which a single-crystal silicon substrate is prepared by removing any native oxide, typically using an aqueous HF solution, and placed in a reaction chamber. The substrate is then heated from about 350° C. to a first deposition temperature under a first ambient to induce single-crystal epitaxial silicon deposition primarily on exposed silicon surfaces. The substrate is then heated to a second deposition temperature under a second ambient that will maintain the single-crystal epitaxial silicon deposition on exposed single-crystal silicon while inducing amorphous epitaxial silicon deposition on insulating surfaces. The amorphous epitaxial silicon can then be converted to single-crystal silicon using a solid phase epitaxy process to form a thin, high quality silicon layer.

Abstract: A digital cable broadcast processing apparatus and a method thereof. A power supply supplies power, and an out-of-band (OOB) receiver receives additional OOB information from a transmission system. A cable card to descramble the received OOB information is mounted in an interface, and a controller controls the power supply in accordance with the presence and absence of the cable card, and accordingly controls the power supply to the OOB receiver. Whether or not the cable card is mounted is determined, and power is cut off or supplied in accordance with the result of the determination. As a result, unnecessary power consumption can be prevented when the cable card is not mounted.

Abstract: Inside frame of a compressor including a frame body having a pass through hole for a crankshaft, legs formed by bending, and extending from, opposite ends of the frame body, respectively, and component fastening parts formed by extending from the legs in parallel to the frame body, respectively, wherein the component fastening parts have opposite inward extensions, and the frame body is formed such that component fastening to the component fastening parts is possible without interference with the frame body, thereby minimizing a size of the compressor and enhancing an assembly precision and strength.

Abstract: An open cable applying apparatus capable of providing an internet search and an internet providing method using the applying apparatus. The open cable applying apparatus includes a PCMCIA interface unit to mount any one of a POD module and a LAN card having PCMCIA (Personal Computer Card International Association) standards, a web browser driving unit to drive a web browser to generate a certain web page, and a control unit to switch the mode in the apparatus to an internet mode if it is determined that the LAN card having PCMCIA standards is mounted on the PCMCIA interface unit and then controlling the web browser driving unit so that the driving unit may stand-by the driving of the web browser. Accordingly, it is possible to provide an open cable applying apparatus capable of performing an internet search using a LAN card having PCMCIA standards.

Abstract: The present invention relates to a half-pel motion estimation method. The calculation object half-pel, which is in the block of the previous or next reference frame, is not estimated additionally for each block of the current frame divided into blocks of a predetermined size. The present invention suggests an algorithm that can perform half-pel search only with a SAD value used in integer-pel search and a random variable for correcting errors. Since the present invention does not have to generate half-pel for motion estimation, the calculation amount is amazingly reduced and the calculation time is reduced.

Abstract: A data packet structure capable of efficiently propagating a payload through a multi-user, digital video distribution system. The system is capable of delivering multimedia data (video and audio information) using the Moving Picture Expert Group (MPEG) packets as payload within a unique packet structure. The packet structure enables routing of the packets through a variety of network topologies. Specifically, the packet structure comprises a packet header, a routing information field, a private data field, digital data payload, and an error correction code field. Such a packet structure enables the network to deliver digital video through a point-to-point, star, ring, dual ring, and other network topologies to a user that is identified in the routine information field.

Abstract: Disclosed is a semiconductor fin construction useful in FinFET devices that incorporates an upper region and a lower region with wherein the upper region is formed with substantially vertical sidewalls and the lower region is formed with inclined sidewalls to produce a wider base portion. The disclosed semiconductor fin construction will also typically include a horizontal step region at the interface between the upper region and the lower region. Also disclosed are a series of methods of manufacturing semiconductor devices incorporating semiconductor fins having this dual construction and incorporating various combinations of insulating materials such as silicon dioxide and/or silicon nitride for forming shallow trench isolation (STI) structures between adjacent semiconductor fins.

Abstract: An apparatus to compress a wide-band speech signal, the apparatus including a narrow-band speech compressor to compress a low-band speech signal of the wide-band speech signal and output the compressed low-band speech signal as a low-band speech packet; and a high-band speech compressor to compress a high-band speech signal of the wide-band speech signal using energy information of the low-band speech signal provided from the narrow-band speech compressor, and outputs the compressed high-band speech signal as a high-band speech packet.

Abstract: A coding apparatus including a base layer, a speech quality enhancement layer, and a multiplexer. The base layer filters an input speech signal using linear prediction coding and generates an excitation signal corresponding to the filtered speech signal through a fixed codebook search and an adaptive codebook search. The speech quality enhancement layer searches a fixed codebook using parameters obtained through the fixed codebook search in the base layer, or searches the fixed codebook using a target signal, which is obtained by removing a contribution of a fixed codebook of the base layer and a signal which is obtained by synthesizing and filtering a previous fixed codebook of the speech quality enhancement layer from a target signal for the fixed codebook search of the base layer. The multiplexer multiplexes signals generated by the base layer and the at least one speech quality enhancement layer.

Abstract: A speech compression apparatus including: a first band-transform unit transforming a wideband speech signal to a narrowband low-band speech signal; a narrowband speech compressor compressing the narrowband low-band speech signal and outputting a result of the compressing as a low-band speech packet; a decompression unit decompressing the low-band speech packet and obtaining a decompressed wideband low-band speech signal; an error detection unit detecting an error signal that corresponds to a difference between the wideband speech signal and the decompressed wideband low-band speech signal; and a high-band speech compression unit compressing the error signal and a high-band speech signal of the wideband speech signal and outputting the result of the compressing as a high-band speech packet.

Abstract: A block-constrained Trellis coded quantization (TCQ) method and a method and apparatus for quantizing line spectral frequency (LSF) parameters employing the same in a speech coding system wherein the LSF coefficient quantizing method includes: removing the direct current (DC) component in an input LSF coefficient vector; generating a first prediction error vector by performing inter-frame and intra-frame prediction for the LSF coefficient vector, in which the DC component is removed, quantizing the first prediction error vector by using the BC-TCQ algorithm, and by performing intra-frame and inter-frame prediction compensation, generating a quantized first LSF coefficient vector; generating a second prediction error vector by performing intra-frame prediction for the LSF coefficient vector, in which the DC component is removed, quantizing the second prediction error vector by using the BC-TCQ algorithm, and then, by performing intra-frame prediction compensation, generating a quantized second LSF coefficient

Abstract: A fast search method for LSP (Linear Spectrum Pair) quantization is provided. The fast search method in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention includes the following steps. A first step is obtaining a target vector and a code vector. The target vector and the code vector are converted for ordering property. A second step is generating a code book having the ordering property for sub-matrices by utilizing the target vector and the code vector. A third step is selecting a particular line for determining a search scope in the code books and sorting the code book in descending order with respect to component values of the particular line. A fourth step is determining the search scope by utilizing the ordering property of the target vector and the sorted code vectors. The fifth step is obtaining an error standard by utilizing the target vector and the code vector, and obtaining an optimal code vector by utilizing the error standard within the determined search scope.

Abstract: An apparatus and a method for computing a Speech Absence Probability (SAP), and an apparatus and a method for removing noise by using the SAP computing device and method are provided.