Author: claimsbot

1. A communication device which communicates with another device by wireless communication in an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing manner, the communication device comprising:
a modulator modulating an input signal in a predetermined modulation manner to generate a primary modulation signal, assigning a predetermined number of any complex numbers and elements of the primary modulation signal to subcarriers frequency components of which are orthogonal to each other to generate a subcarrier modulation signal;
an IFFT calculator applying an inverse fast fourier transform to the subcarrier modulation signal to generate a converted signal;
a decomposer decomposing the converted data into real-part data that is a real part of the converted data and imaginary-part data that is an imaginary part of the converted data;
a calculator subtracting, from each element of the real-part data, a linear combination of the elements of the real-part data obtained using coefficients each of which is a real number of 0 or more and which total 1, and subtracting, from each element of the imaginary-part data, a linear combination of the elements of the imaginary-part data obtained using coefficients each of which is a real number of 0 or more and which total 1;
a combiner generating a baseband signal based on data that is a combination of the real-part data and the imaginary-part data calculated by the calculator; and
a transmitter generating a transmission signal from the baseband signal and transmitting the transmission signal.
2. The communication device according to claim 1, wherein the calculator subtracts, from each element of the real-part data, an average value of a maximum value and a minimum value of the elements of the real-part data, an average value of the elements of the real-part data, or a median of the elements of the real-part data, and subtracts, from each element of the imaginary-part data, an average value of a maximum value and a minimum value of the elements of the imaginary-part data, an average value of the elements of the imaginary-part data, or a median of the elements of the imaginary-part data.
3. The communication device according to claim 1, wherein the modulator assigns one of the complex numbers and elements of the primary modulation signal to the subcarriers to generate the subcarrier modulation signal.
4. The communication device according to claim 2, wherein the modulator assigns one of the complex numbers and elements of the primary modulation signal to the subcarriers to generate the subcarrier modulation signal.
5. The communication device according to claim 1, wherein the modulator uses data with a value of 0 or 1 a number of which is determined based on the predetermined modulation manner to modulate the data in the predetermined modulation manner to generate the predetermined number of the complex numbers, and assigns the complex numbers and elements of the primary modulation signal to the subcarriers to generate the subcarrier modulation signal.
6. The communication device according to claim 2, wherein the modulator uses data with a value of 0 or 1 a number of which is determined based on the predetermined modulation manner to modulate the data in the predetermined modulation manner to generate the predetermined number of the complex numbers, and assigns the complex numbers and elements of the primary modulation signal to the subcarriers to generate the subcarrier modulation signal.
7. The communication device according to claim 3, wherein the modulator uses data with a value of 0 or 1 a number of which is determined based on the predetermined modulation manner to modulate the data in the predetermined modulation manner to generate the predetermined number of the complex numbers, and assigns the complex numbers and elements of the primary modulation signal to the subcarriers to generate the subcarrier modulation signal.
8. The communication device according to claim 4, wherein the modulator uses data with a value of 0 or 1 a number of which is determined based on the predetermined modulation manner to modulate the data in the predetermined modulation manner to generate the predetermined number of the complex numbers, and assigns the complex numbers and elements of the primary modulation signal to the subcarriers to generate the subcarrier modulation signal.
9. A communication device which communicates with another device by wireless communication in an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing manner, the communication device comprising:
a receiver receiving a transmission signal to generate a baseband signal;
a serial-parallel converter applying a serial-parallel conversion to the baseband signal to generate a parallel signal;
an FFT calculator applying a fast fourier transform to the parallel signal;
an extractor extracting a predetermined element from a calculation result from the FFT calculator to generate a subcarrier modulation signal; and
a demodulator demodulating the subcarrier modulation signal in a predetermined demodulation manner.
10. A communication method carried out by a communication device which communicates with another device by wireless communication in an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing manner, the method comprising:
a modulation step for modulating an input signal in a predetermined modulation manner to generate a primary modulation signal, assigning a predetermined number of any complex numbers and elements of the primary modulation signal to subcarriers frequency components of which are orthogonal to each other to generate a subcarrier modulation signal;
an IFFT calculation step for applying an inverse fast fourier transform to the subcarrier modulation signal to generate a converted signal;
a decomposition step for decomposing the converted data into real-part data that is a real part of the converted data and imaginary-part data that is an imaginary part of the converted data;
a calculation step for subtracting, from each element of the real-part data, a linear combination of the elements of the real-part data obtained using coefficients each of which is a real number of 0 or more and which total 1, and subtracting, from each element of the imaginary-part data, a linear combination of the elements of the imaginary-part data obtained using coefficients each of which is a real number of 0 or more and which total 1;
a combination step for generating a baseband signal based on data that is a combination of the real-part data and the imaginary-part data calculated by the calculator; and
a transmission step for generating a transmission signal from the baseband signal and transmitting the transmission signal.
11. The communication method according to claim 10, wherein the calculation step subtracts, from each element of the real-part data, an average value of a maximum value and a minimum value of the elements of the real-part data, an average value of the elements of the real-part data, or a median of the elements of the real-part data, and subtracts, from each element of the imaginary-part data, an average value of a maximum value and a minimum value of the elements of the imaginary-part data, an average value of the elements of the imaginary-part data, or a median of the elements of the imaginary-part data.
12. The communication method according to claim 10, wherein the modulation step assigns one of the complex numbers and elements of the primary modulation signal to each of the subcarriers to generate the subcarrier modulation signal.
13. The communication method according to claim 11, wherein the modulation step assigns one of the complex numbers and elements of the primary modulation signal to each of the subcarriers to generate the subcarrier modulation signal.
14. The communication method according to claim 10, wherein the modulation step uses data with a value of 0 or 1 a number of which is determined based on the predetermined modulation manner to modulate the data in the predetermined modulation manner to generate the predetermined number of the complex numbers, and assigns the complex numbers and elements of the primary modulation signal to the subcarriers to generate the subcarrier modulation signal.
15. The communication method according to claim 11, wherein the modulation step uses data with a value of 0 or 1 a number of which is determined based on the predetermined modulation manner to modulate the data in the predetermined modulation manner to generate the predetermined number of the complex numbers, and assigns the complex numbers and elements of the primary modulation signal to the subcarriers to generate the subcarrier modulation signal.
16. The communication method according to claim 12, wherein the modulation step uses data with a value of 0 or 1 a number of which is determined based on the predetermined modulation manner to modulate the data in the predetermined modulation manner to generate the predetermined number of the complex numbers, and assigns the complex numbers and elements of the primary modulation signal to the subcarriers to generate the subcarrier modulation signal.
17. The communication method according to claim 13, wherein the modulation step uses data with a value of 0 or 1 a number of which is determined based on the predetermined modulation manner to modulate the data in the predetermined modulation manner to generate the predetermined number of the complex numbers, and assigns the complex numbers and elements of the primary modulation signal to the subcarriers to generate the subcarrier modulation signal.
18. A communication method carried out by a communication device which communicates with another device by wireless communication in an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing manner, the method including:
a reception step for receiving a transmission signal to generate a baseband signal;
a serial-parallel conversion step for applying a serial-parallel conversion to the baseband signal to generate a parallel signal;
an FFT calculation step for applying a fast fourier transform to the parallel signal;
an extraction step for extracting a predetermined element from a calculation result from the FFT calculation step to generate a subcarrier modulation signal; and
a demodulation step for demodulating the subcarrier modulation signal in a predetermined demodulation manner.

The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.

1. A staple storage device comprising:
a staple storage portion;
a band of staples in the staple storage portion, the band of staples linking individual staples together at respective staple linking portions; and
a return prevention device operable to substantially prevent the band of staples from returning toward the staple storage portion, the return prevention device including a plurality of staple abutting portions spaced apart along a staple feed direction of the band of staples and substantially continuously engaging the band of staples as the band moves in the staple feed direction;
wherein each individual staple has a staple width in the staple feed direction; and
wherein the plurality of staple abutting portions are spaced apart at a distance that is not a natural number multiple of the staple width;
wherein there are M staple abutting portions and wherein an individual staple has a width L along the staple feed direction, the plurality of staple abutting portions being spaced apart such that successive staple abutting portions are spaced by a distance of LM.
2. The staple storage device of claim 1, wherein the return prevention device includes a body portion and the plurality of staple abutting portions extend from the body portion.
3. The staple storage device of claim 2, wherein the return prevention device includes a second plurality of staple abutting portions extending from the body portion and spaced from the first plurality of staple abutting portions in a direction normal to the staple feed direction.
4. The staple storage device of claim 1, wherein the staple storage portion is part of a cartridge for storing a rolled band of staples.
5. A staple storage device comprising:
a staple storage portion;
a band of staples in the staple storage portion, the band of staples linking individual staples together at respective staple linking portions; and
a return prevention device operable to substantially prevent the band of staples from returning toward the staple storage portion, the return prevention device including a plurality of staple abutting portions spaced apart along a staple feed direction of the band of staples and substantially continuously engaging the band of staples as the band moves in the staple feed direction;
wherein each individual staple has a staple width in the staple feed direction; and
wherein the plurality of staple abutting portions are spaced apart at a distance that is not a natural number multiple of the staple width;
wherein there are M staple abutting portions and wherein an individual staple has a width L along the staple feed direction, the plurality of staple abutting portions being spaced apart such that successive staple abutting portions are spaced by a distance of n*L+LM, where n is a natural number.
6. The staple storage device of claim 5, wherein the return prevention device includes a body portion and the plurality of staple abutting portions extend from the body portion.
7. The staple storage device of claim 6, wherein the return prevention device includes a second plurality of staple abutting portions extending from the body portion and spaced from the first plurality of staple abutting portions in a direction normal to the staple feed direction.
8. The staple storage device of claim 5, wherein the return prevention device includes multiple spaced apart body portions and one of the plurality of staple abutting portions extends from each of the multiple body portions.
9. The staple storage device of claim 8, wherein the return prevention device includes a second plurality of staple abutting portions, one of the second plurality of staple abutting portions extending from each of the multiple body portions and spaced from the first plurality of staple abutting portions in a direction normal to the staple feed direction.
10. The staple storage device of claim 5, wherein the staple storage portion is part of a cartridge for storing a rolled band of staples.

1. A semiconductor manufacturing process facility requiring use therein of air exhaust for its operation, said facility including clean room and gray room components, with said clean room having at least one semiconductor manufacturing tool therein, and wherein air exhaust is flowed through a region of said clean room, said facility comprising an air exhaust treatment apparatus arranged to (i) receive air exhaust after flow thereof through said region of said clean room, (ii) produce a treated air exhaust, and (iii) recirculate the treated air exhaust to an ambient air environment of the facility.
2. The semiconductor manufacturing process facility of claim 1, wherein the treated air exhaust is discharged from the air exhaust treatment apparatus to the gray room of the facility.
3. The semiconductor manufacturing process facility of claim 1, wherein the exhaust treatment apparatus comprises a chemical filter arranged for contacting air exhaust to remove contaminant species therefrom.
4. The semiconductor manufacturing process facility of claim 3, wherein the exhaust treatment apparatus comprises an air filter arranged for contacting air exhaust to remove particulate material therefrom.
5. The semiconductor manufacturing process facility of claim 4, wherein the chemical filter is upstream of the air filter.
6. The semiconductor manufacturing process facility of claim 1, wherein the exhaust treatment apparatus comprises a heat exchanger arranged to cool air exhaust flowed therethrough.
7. The semiconductor manufacturing process facility of claim 3, wherein the exhaust treatment apparatus comprises a heat exchanger arranged to cool air exhaust flowed therethrough.
8. The semiconductor manufacturing process facility of claim 4, wherein the exhaust treatment apparatus comprises a heat exchanger arranged to cool air exhaust flowed therethrough.
9. The semiconductor manufacturing process facility of claim 1, comprising a house exhaust system, wherein the air exhaust is not flowed through the house exhaust system.
10. The semiconductor manufacturing process facility of claim 1, wherein the at least one semiconductor manufacturing tool includes an ion implanter.
11. The semiconductor manufacturing process facility of claim 1, wherein the at least one semiconductor manufacturing tool includes a gas cabinet.
12. The semiconductor manufacturing process facility of claim 1, wherein the at least one semiconductor manufacturing tool includes a point-of-use abatement tool.
13. The semiconductor manufacturing process facility of claim 1, wherein the exhaust treatment apparatus includes a toxic gas monitor.
14. A method of operating a semiconductor manufacturing process facility requiring use therein of air exhaust for its operation, said facility including clean room and gray room components, with said clean room having at least one semiconductor manufacturing tool therein, and wherein air exhaust is flowed through a region of said clean room, said method comprising treating air exhaust after flow thereof through said region of said clean room to produce a treated air exhaust, and recirculating the treated air exhaust to an ambient air environment of the facility.
15. The method of claim 14, wherein the treated air exhaust is discharged to the gray room of the facility.
16. The method of claim 14, wherein the treating comprises chemical filtering of the air exhaust.
17. The method of claim 14, wherein the treating comprises mechanical air filtering of the air exhaust.
18. The method of claim 14, wherein the treating comprises cooling the air exhaust.
19. The method of claim 14, wherein the semiconductor manufacturing process facility includes a house exhaust system, wherein said air exhaust is not flowed through the house exhaust system.
20. The method of claim 14, wherein the at least one semiconductor manufacturing tool includes an ion implanter.
21. The method of claim 14, wherein the at least one semiconductor manufacturing tool includes a gas cabinet.
22. The method of claim 14, wherein the at least one semiconductor manufacturing tool includes a point-of-use abatement tool.
23. The method of claim 14, further comprising monitoring the air exhaust with a toxic gas monitor.

The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.

What is claimed is:

1. In a system that analyzes data gathered by collectors monitoring nodes, a hierarchical method of defining and organizing the analysis tasks to be performed comprising the steps of:
performing, for each low-level analysis task, analysis steps that comprise accepting data from one or more collector types, analyzing the data, and generating reports, guided by an analyzer descriptor written in XML or a comparable format identifying the collector types whose data the analyzer steps are to process;
for each higher-level analysis task, of which there is at least one, performing one or more sets of analysis steps for either low-level or high-level analysis tasks, guided by an analyzer descriptor written in XML or a comparable format that calls upon or that incorporates by reference other analyzer descriptors; and
guided by one or more analyzer descriptors and, in the case of higher level analyzer descriptors, by the analyzer descriptors they call upon or incorporate by reference directly or indirectly, repeatedly performing the set of analysis steps corresponding to one or more analyzer descriptors one or more times against collector data gathered from a different node or set of nodes during each such exercise of the set of analysis steps, and during this process, presenting for acceptance and analysis during the performance of each data acceptance step data gathered from collectors of the type indicated by the guiding analyzer descriptors.
2. A method in accordance with claim 1 wherein the step of obtaining an analyzer descriptor includes obtaining one or more such descriptors that contain an analyzer name, description, and in the case of at least one higher-level analyzer descriptor a list of the other analyzer names whose descriptors it calls upon or incorporates by reference.
3. A method in accordance with claim 1 wherein the step of obtaining an analyzer descriptor for each higher-level task includes obtaining at least one analyzer descriptor for a higher-level task that calls upon or that incorporates by reference at least one other analyzer descriptor for another higher-level task.
4. A method in accordance with claim 3 wherein the step of obtaining an analyzer descriptor includes obtaining one or more such descriptors that contain an analyzer name, description, and in the case of at least one higher-level analyzer descriptor a list of other analyzer names whose descriptors it calls upon or incorporates by reference.
5. A method in accordance with claim 1 wherein the step of obtaining an analyzer descriptor for each higher-level task includes obtaining at least one analyzer descriptor for a higher-level task that calls upon or that incorporates by reference at least one other analyzer descriptor for another higher-level task which in turn calls upon or which incorporates by reference at least one other analyzer descriptor for another higher-level task.
6. A method in accordance with claim 5 wherein the step of obtaining an analyzer descriptor includes obtaining one or more such descriptors that contain an analyzer name, description, and in the case of at least one higher-level analyzer descriptor, a list of other analyzer names whose descriptors it calls upon or incorporate by reference.
7. A method in accordance with claim 1 wherein the step of obtaining an analyzer descriptor for each higher-level task includes obtaining at least one analyzer descriptor for a higher-level task that calls upon or that incorporates by reference at least one other analyzer descriptor for another higher-level task which in turn calls upon or which incorporates by reference at least one other analyzer descriptor for another higher-level task that calls upon or that incorporates by reference at least one other analyzer descriptor for another higher-level task.
8. A method in accordance with claim 7 wherein the step of obtaining an analyzer descriptor includes obtaining one or more such descriptors that contain an analyzer name, description, and in the case of at least one higher-level analyzer descriptor, a list of other analyzer names whose descriptors it calls upon or incorporate by reference.
9. A system that analyzes data gathered by one or more collectors monitoring one or more nodes, said system comprising:
for each low-level analysis task that the system performs, an analyzer program and an analyzer descriptor, the program containing instructions that accept data from one or more collector types, analyze the data, and generates reports, and the analyzer descriptor written in XML or a comparable format and identifying the collector types whose data the program’s instructions can accept;
for hierarchically higher-level analysis tasks, of which there is at least one, at least one analyzer program, and an analyzer descriptor for each of the higher-level tasks written in XML or a comparable format that calls upon, or that incorporates by reference, other analyzer descriptors; and
a framework that is guided by a set of one or more analyzer descriptors and, in the case of hierarchically higher-level analyzer descriptors, by the analyzer descriptors they call upon or incorporate by reference directly or indirectly, to execute repeatedly one or more times the set of analyzer programs corresponding to some of these analyzer descriptors against collector data gathered from a different node or set of nodes during each such execution of the set of programs, and during each execution of each program, to present the program with only the type of collector data the instructions of the executing program are designed to accept, as indicated by the analyzer descriptor corresponding to the executing program.
10. A system in accordance with claim 9 wherein each analyzer descriptor contains an analyzer name, an analyzer description, and in the case of analyzer descriptors for higher-level analyzer tasks, a list of other analyzer names whose descriptors it calls upon or incorporates by reference.
11. A system in accordance with claim 9 including at least one or more higher-level analyzer descriptor that calls upon, or that incorporates by reference, another high-level analyzer descriptor.
12. A system in accordance with claim 9 wherein each analyzer descriptor contains an analyzer name, an analyzer description, and in the case of analyzer descriptors for higher-level analyzer tasks, a list of other analyzer names whose descriptors it calls upon or incorporates by reference.
13. A system in accordance with claim 9 including at least one or more higher-level analyzer descriptor that calls upon, or that incorporates by reference, another high-level analyzer descriptor which, in turn, also calls upon, or that incorporates by reference, yet another high-level analyzer descriptor.
14. A system in accordance with claim 9 wherein each analyzer descriptor contains an analyzer name, an analyzer description, and in the case of analyzer descriptors for higher-level analyzer tasks, a list of other analyzer names whose descriptors it calls upon or incorporates by reference.
15. A system in accordance with claim 9 including at least one or more higher-level analyzer descriptor that calls upon, or that incorporates by reference, another high-level analyzer descriptor which, in turn, also calls upon, or that incorporates by reference, yet another high-level analyzer descriptor that, in turn, also calls upon, or that incorporates by reference, another high-level analyzer descriptor.
16. A system in accordance with claim 9 wherein each analyzer descriptor contains an analyzer name, an analyzer description, and in the case of analyzer descriptors for higher-level analyzer tasks, a list of other analyzer names whose descriptors it calls upon or incorporates by reference.
17. A system that analyzes data gathered by one or more collector means for monitoring one or more nodes, said system comprising:
for each low-level analysis task that the system performs, an analyzer means for accepting data from one or more collector means, analyzing the data, and generating reports, and an analyzer descriptor written in XML or a comparable format and identifying the types of collector means whose data the program’s instructions can accept;
for hierarchically higher-level analysis tasks, of which there is at least one, at least one analyzer means, and an analyzer descriptor written in XML or a comparable format for each of the higher-level analysis task that calls upon, or that incorporates by reference, other analyzer descriptors; and
framework means guided by a set of one or more analyzer descriptors and, in the case of hierarchically higher-level analyzer descriptors, by the analyzer descriptors they call upon or incorporate by reference directly or indirectly, for executing repeatedly one or more times the set of analyzer means corresponding to some of these analyzer descriptors against collector means data gathered from a different node or set of nodes during each such execution of the set of analyzer means, and during each execution of each analyzer means, for presenting the analyzer means with only the type of collector means data the analyzer means are designed to accept, as indicated by the analyzer descriptor corresponding to the executing analyzer means.