223 results about "Critical regions" patented technology

One embodiment of the present invention provides a system that applies resolution enhancement techniques (RETs) selectively to a layout of an integrated circuit. Upon receiving the layout of the integrated circuit, the system identifies a plurality of critical regions within the layout based on an analysis of one or more of, timing, dynamic power, and off-state leakage current. The system then performs a first set of aggressive RET operations on the plurality of critical regions. The system also performs a second set of less aggressive RET operations on other non-critical regions of the layout.

Methods and systems for inspecting a reticle are provided. In an embodiment, a method may include forming an aerial image of the reticle using a set of exposure conditions. The reticle may include optical proximity correction (OPC) features. The method may also include detecting defects on the reticle by comparing the aerial image to a reference image stored in a database. The reference image may be substantially optically equivalent to an image of the reticle that would be printed on a specimen by an exposure system under the set of exposure conditions. The reference image may not include images of the OPC features. Therefore, a substantial portion of the defects include defects that would be printed onto the specimen by the exposure system using the reticle under the set of exposure conditions. The method may also include indicating the defects that are detected in critical regions of the reticle.

This invention relates generally to medical imaging and, in particular, to a method and system for reconstructing a model path through a branched tubular organ. Novel methodologies and systems segment and define accurate endoluminal surfaces in airway trees, including small peripheral bronchi. An automatic algorithm is described that searches the entire lung volume for airway branches and poses airway-tree segmentation as a global graph-theoretic optimization problem. A suite of interactive segmentation tools for cleaning and extending critical areas of the automatically segmented result is disclosed. A model path is reconstructed through the airway tree.

An efficient computer implemented method computes critical area for via blocks in Very Large Scale Integrated (VLSI) circuits. The method is incremental and takes advantage of the hierarchy in the design. In order to increase the efficiency further we use the Linfin or the L1 metric instead of the Euclidean geometry.

A method of manufacturing an osteoinductive osteoimplant is provided which comprises the steps of: demineralizing part or all of at least one surface of a monolithic section of cortical bone to a depth of at least about 100 microns; and, configuring the monolithic section of cortical bone to provide an osteoimplant possessing an outer surface possessing at least one demineralized zone and a non-demineralized zone. An implant produced according to the above method demonstrates improved osteoinduction without producing any clinically significant reduction of strength in critical regions of the osteoimplant.

A leaflet including fibers oriented at an angle relative to at least one free edge of the leaflet. A leaflet comprising mechanisms for increasing coaptation height, preventing billowing, and reducing stress in critical regions of the leaflet. A prosthetic heart valve, including three leaflets operatively attached together. A method of using a prosthetic heart valve, by applying pressure to the valve, forming a pocket with material of three leaflets operatively attached together and increasing coaptation height, reducing billowing of the leaflets toward a ventricle, and reducing stress in critical regions of the leaflet. A chorded valve including at least one leaflet, wherein bundles of fibers exit said free edges as tethers and can be anchored to tissue. A method of using the chorded valve, by anchoring the tethers to tissue, forming a pocket with the material of leaflets and increasing coaptation height, and reducing billowing of leaflets toward an atrium.

A vehicle attitude controller capable of improving turning operability, steering stability, and ride quality of a vehicle. In a normal-operation region, a pitch control unit for calculating a target pitch rate in accordance with a roll rate performs control in priority to a roll suppression section. In this case, a target damping force calculated in the pitch control unit is weighed to control a damping-force characteristic of the dampers so that a pitch rate becomes equal to the target pitch rate. In a critical region in which a road-surface gripping state of the vehicle tires is bad, the roll suppression section performs control in priority to the pitch control unit so as to weigh a target damping force calculated in the roll suppression section. As a result, the damping-force characteristic of the dampers is controlled so as to increase the amount of roll suppression control.

Disclosed are mechanisms for efficiently and accurately calculating critical area. In general terms, a method for determining a critical area for a semiconductor design layout is disclosed. The critical area is utilizable to predict yield of a semiconductor device fabricated from such layout. A semiconductor design layout having a plurality of features is first provided. The features have a plurality of polygon shapes which include nonrectangular polygon shapes. Each feature shape has at least one attribute or artifact, such as a vertex or edge. A probability of fail function is calculated based on at least a distance between two feature shape attributes or artifacts. By way of example implementations, a distance between two neighboring feature edges (or vertices) or a distance between two feature edges (or vertices) of the same feature is first determined and then used to calculate the probability of fail function. In a specific aspect, the distances are first used to determine midlines between neighboring features or midlines within a same feature shape, and the midlines are then used to determine the probability of fail function. A critical area of the design layout is then determined based on the determined probability of fail function. In specific implementations, the defect type is a short type defect or an open type defect. In a preferred implementation, the features may have any suitable polygonal shape, as is typical in a design layout.

A comprehensive analysis procedure for analyzing and comparing multiple sets of data to detect hidden discriminatory data patterns. The inventive procedure identifies a best subset of markers for optimal discrimination between two or more sets of data. A point-wise test on two or more sets of data is performed to calculate test statistic values and to generate a statgram, a two- or higher- dimensional map of the test statistic values along the range of data. A threshold is then determined for isolating critical regions of the statgram at each significance level to provide candidate markers. A subset of markers from the candidate markers is then selected to discriminate among the sets of data. The two or more sets of data are classified using the subset of markers.

An efficient method to compute critical area for shorts and breaks in rectilinear layouts in Very Large Scale Integrated (VLSI) circuits. The method is incremental and works in the L INFINITY geometry and has three major steps: Compute critical area for rectilinear layouts for both extra material and missing material defects (i.e., shorts and opens) by modeling defects as squares (which corresponds to the L INFINITY metric) instead of circles (Euclidean geometry). Treat the critical region for shorts and opens between any two edges or corners of the layout as a rectangle that grows uniformly as the defect radius increases. This is valid for rectilinear layouts and square defects (L INFINITY metric) . Use an incremental critical area algorithm for shorts and opens, which are computed for rectilinear layouts assuming square defects. Non-rectilinear layouts are approximated, first, by a rectilinear layout using a shape processing tool. The critical area for the rectilinear approximation is computed using the preferred incremental method.

Systems and methods for monitoring an operative site during a surgical procedure using a computer controlled surgical device. In general the methods include the steps of processing one or more defined cutting paths having one or more cut regions; determining a correlation between the cut region and one or more critical regions to generate an alert, wherein the alert indicates a movable end-effector is within a defined proximity of the critical region; and requiring a user acknowledgment of the alert to allow processing of the cutting path to continue. Also described herein are systems and methods for minimizing user fatigue during a semi-computer controlled surgical procedure. In general the methods includes the step of requiring a user generated acknowledgment in response to a computer generated alert, wherein the user acknowledgment is generated using a user controller, the user controller being minimally intrusive to the user experience.

A control mechanism for a hybrid vehicle having a motor driving means enabling its running through an output of an electric motor, and an engine driving means enabling its running through an output of an engine, includes a throttle sensor and a driving change-over control unit having a mode map for determining each of working regions M, E of the motor driving unit and the engine driving unit in response to a sensing signal θ of the throttle sensor. The mode map is provided with a critical region Ma adjacent to the working region E of the engine driving unit in the working region M of the motor driving unit and an informing unit (display device) to inform a driver of a fact that the motor driving unit is being operated in the critical region Ma. The display device also indicates a battery residual amount.

This invention adds to the art of replacement source-drain cMOS transistors. Processes may involve etching a recess in the substrate material using one equipment set, then performing deposition in another. Disclosed is a method to perform the etch and subsequent deposition in the same reactor without atmospheric exposure. In-situ etching of the source-drain recess for replacement source-drain applications provides several advantages over state of the art ex-situ etching. Transistor drive current is improved by: (1) Eliminating contamination of the silicon-epilayer interface when the as-etched surface is exposed to atmosphere and (2) Precise control over the shape of the etch recess. Deposition may be done by a variety of techniques including selective and non-selective methods. In the case of blanket deposition, a measure to avoid amorphous deposition in performance critical regions is also presented.

A technique to detect defects when reading a defect scan pattern stored on a disk in which the detected defects are processed differently depending on which region of a sector the defect is resident. In one implementation, a mask is used to identify the defects of different regions. By differentiating different regions within the sector for defect scan, sync mark and preamble fields may be treated as critical regions so that different defect scan properties may be attributed when performing the defect scan.

The invention relates to two methods for accessing critical areas, wherein it comprises: presetting the write priority identifier to instruct if there is write process waiting; when CPU is ready to write data into critical area, if present critical area has read lock and the write priority identifier instructs there is not write process waiting, setting the write priority identifier as there is write process waiting; when the read lock is released, setting the write priority identifier as there is no write process waiting, and entering into critical area; when CPU is ready to read out data from critical area, and if the write priority identifier detects write process waiting, the write process has priority. The invention discloses two systems that access critical area, which comprises: CPU, read-write lock module and write priority identifier memory module. The invention can on time response the write operation of critical area, to meet high real time property of write operation in multi-core system.

An inventive approach is disclosed to integrate Digital Image Correlation (DIC) with the Acoustic Emission method that may be used for structural health monitoring and assessment of critical structural components in civil, mechanical, and aerospace industries. The inventive approach relies on passively recording acoustic emission across the specimen being tested and activating the DIC cameras automatically to measure deformation on the specimen's surface. The resulting acousto-optic system can be used to determine damage initiation, progressive damage development, identify critical regions and make lifetime predictions of the tested specimen.

The invention discloses a region-based laser radar variable-density scanning system and method. According to the system and method, the three-dimensional fusion data of the image data of a video camera, the point cloud data of a laser radar or the image data and the point cloud data are analyzed, so that a critical region is obtained, the scanning region of the laser radar and the scanning densityof the laser radar are controlled according to the critical region, and control signals are sent to a laser transmitter; and the laser transmitter, based on the control signals sent by a laser scanning controller, transmits laser beams to perform laser scanning on the scanning region corresponding to the critical region with a first scanning density and transmits laser beams to perform laser scanning on scanning regions corresponding to regions other than the critical region with a second scanning density. Therefore, the effective data amount of the laser radar is improved, the scanning precision of the critical region is improved, invalid data amount is reduced, and the effective resolution of the laser radar can be increased.

Designs and methods of improving aerodynamic performance of golf club heads are disclosed herein. In particular, the designs and methods of the present invention address airflow behavior modification at or immediately adjacent to the counter or edge of the striking face to reduce club head drag while minimizing any adverse effect on the impact performance of the face. The present invention also provides a face with visually distinct and apparent treatments and improved visibility at address. The approaches to contouring a golf club face disclosed herein are new because they are confined to a relatively narrow band along the inside of the face boundary curve. The dimensions of the modification zone are kept small and subtle contour changes are made to influence airflow in a highly critical region with minimal effect on the impact performance of the striking surface.

The invention provides medium-manganese TRIP (Transformation-Induced Plasticity) steel and a preparation method thereof. According to the medium-manganese TRIP steel and the preparation method thereof, medium-manganese cold rolled steel is taken as a raw material; the cost is low; the performance of a final product is realized by adopting critical region heat preserving, quenching cooling and partitioning processes; the structure of the medium-manganese steel is controlled by utilizing an over-aging stage in a continuous annealing production line, and the residual austenite volume fraction of the structure is improved in a relatively short critical annealing time, so that mechanical properties of a product are ensured, and meanwhile, the cost is reduced as much as possible; the performance of the steel is stable, the process fluctuation has little influence on performance, and industrial production is facilitated; and the prepared medium-manganese TRIP steel is high in strength, high in elongation and good in forming property, can be widely applied to reinforcing structural parts, such as a B-pillar reinforcing plate, to improve the collision safety of an overall vehicle, and achieves the effects of reducing weight and reducing emission.

Setting final dimensions while protecting against the possibility of merging shapes is provided by performing a decomposition of tolerance bands onto a plurality of masks for use in a multi-exposure process. This allows the maximum process latitude between open and short failure mechanisms, while also providing a mechanism to enforce strict CD tolerances in critical regions of a circuit. The decomposition enables co-optimizing various types of shapes placed onto each mask along with the source used to print each mask. Once the tolerance bands are decomposed onto the two or more masks, standard tolerance-band-based data preparation methodologies can be employed to create the final mask shapes.