Author: claimsbot

We claim:

1. A method for measuring dry density and gravimetric water content of soil, comprising the steps of:
providing a plurality of spikes adapted to be driven into the soil;
driving said plurality of spikes into the soil in spaced relationship;
applying to said plurality of spikes an electrical signal suitable for time domain reflectometry;
analyzing a reflected signal using time domain reflectometry to determine an apparent dielectric constant Ka of the soil and bulk electrical conductivity ECb of the soil;
calculating dry density d of the soil using a predetermined relationship between Ka, ECb and d; and
calculating gravimetric water content w of the soil using a predetermined relationship between Ka, ECb, and w.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein the soil has a surface and the plurality of spikes have a lower end, and the step of analyzing a reflected signal includes measuring the apparent distance between a signal reflected from the surface of the soil and a signal reflected from the lower end of said plurality of spikes to determine an apparent length La.
3. The method of claim 2, wherein said plurality of spikes have a probe length Lp and the apparent dielectric constant Ka(LaLp)2.
4. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of analyzing a reflected signal includes measuring a source voltage Vs of the applied signal and a long term voltage Vf of the reflected signal.
5. The method of claim 4, wherein the bulk electrical conductivity ECb(1C)(VsVf1) where C is a constant related to probe length Lp.
6. The method of claim 1, wherein the predetermined relationship between Ka, ECb and d is
17
d

=
d
K
a
–

b
EC
b
ad
–
cb
,
where a, b, c and d are soil specific calibration constants.
7. The method of claim 6, wherein calibration constants a and b are predetermined experimentally for a given soil using the relationship
18
K
a
w
d
=

a
+
bw
,
where w is the density of water, d is the dry density of the soil, and w is the gravimetric water content of the soil.
8. The method of claim 7, wherein ECb is replaced with an adjusted value ECb,adj for which calibration constants c and d are known.
9. The method of claim 1, wherein the predetermined relationship between Ka, ECb and w is
19
w
=
c
K
a
–

a
EC
b
b
EC
b
–

d
K
a
,
where a, b, c and d are soil specific calibration constants.
10. The method of claim 9, wherein calibration constants c and d are predetermined experimentally for a given soil using the relationship
20
EC
b
w
d
=

c
+
dw
,
where w is the density of water, d is the dry density of the soil, and w is the gravimetric water content of the soil.
11. The method of claim 10, wherein ECb is replaced with an adjusted value ECb,adj for which calibration constants c and d are known.
12. The method of claim 11, wherein the calculated value of Ka at a given temperature is adjusted to a value Ka,20 C. at a standard temperature of 20 C., where
Ka,20 C.Ka,TTCF
and where
21
TCF
=
Temperature
Compensation
Function
=
0.97
+

0.0015
T

test
,
C
.
for
cohesionless
soils
,
4
C
.
T

test
,
C
.
40
C
.
=
1.10
–

0.005
T

test
,
C
.
for
cohesive
soils
,
4
C
.
T

test
,
C
.
40
C
.
13. A method for measuring dry density of soil, comprising the steps of:
providing a plurality of spikes adapted to be driven into the soil;
driving said plurality of spikes into the soil in spaced relationship;
applying to said plurality of spikes an electrical signal suitable for time domain reflectometry;
analyzing a reflected signal using time domain reflectometry to determine an apparent dielectric constant Ka of the soil and bulk electrical conductivity ECb of the soil; and
calculating dry density d of the soil using a predetermined relationship between Ka, ECb and d.
14. The method of claim 13, wherein the predetermined relationship between Ka, ECb and d is
22
d

=
d
K
a
–

b
EC
b
ad
–
cb
,
where a, b, c and d are soil specific calibration constants.
15. The method of claim 14, wherein calibration constants a and b are predetermined experimentally for a given soil using the relationship
23
K
a
w
d
=

a
+
bw
,
where w is the density of water, d is the dry density of the soil, and w is the gravimetric water content of the soil.
16. The method of claim 14, wherein calibration constants c and d are predetermined experimentally for a given soil using the relationship
24
EC
b
w
d
=

c
+
dw
,
where w is the density of water, d is the dry density of the soil, and w is the gravimetric water content of the soil.
17. The method of claim 14, wherein ECb is replaced with an adjusted value ECb,adj for which calibration constants c and d are known.
18. The method of claim 17, wherein the calculated value of Ka at a given temperature is adjusted to a value Ka, 20 C. at a standard temperature of 20 C., where
Ka,20 C.Ka,TTCF
and where
25
TCF
=
Temperature
Compensation
Function
=
0.97
+

0.0015
T

test
,
C
.
for
cohesionless
soils
,
4
C
.
T

test
,
C
.
40
C
.
=
1.10
–

0.005
T

test
,
C
.
for
cohesive
soils
,
4
C
.
T

test
,
C
.
40
C
.
19. A method for measuring gravimetric water content of soil, comprising the steps of:
providing a plurality of spikes adapted to be driven into the soil;
driving said plurality of spikes into the soil in spaced relationship;
applying to said plurality of spikes an electrical signal suitable for time domain reflectometry;
analyzing a reflected signal using time domain reflectometry to determine an apparent dielectric constant Ka of the soil and bulk electrical conductivity ECb of the soil; and
calculating gravimetric water content w of the soil using a predetermined relationship between Ka, ECb, and w.
20. The method of claim 19, wherein the predetermined relationship between Ka, ECb and w is
26
w
=
c
K
a
–

a
EC
b
b
EC
b
–

d
K
a
,
where a, b, c and d are soil specific calibration constants.
21. The method of claim 20, wherein calibration constants a and b are predetermined experimentally for a given soil using the relationship
27
K
a
w
d
=

a
+
bw
,
where w is the density of water, d is the dry density of the soil, and w is the gravimetric water content of the soil.
22. The method of claim 20, wherein calibration constants c and d are predetermined experimentally for a given soil using the relationship
28
EC
b
w
d
=

c
+
dw
,
where w is the density of water, d is the dry density of the soil, and w is the gravimetric water content of the soil.
23. The method of claim 22, wherein ECb is replaced with an adjusted value ECb, adj for which calibration constants c and d are known.
24. The method of claim 23, wherein the calculated value of Ka at a given temperature is adjusted to a value Ka, 20 C. at a standard temperature of 20 C., where
Ka,20 C.Ka,TTCF
and where
29
TCF
=
Temperature
Compensation
Function
=
0.97
+

0.0015
T

test
,
C
.
for
cohesionless
soils
,
4
C
.
T

test
,
C
.
40
C
.
=
1.10
–

0.005
T

test
,
C
.
for
cohesive
soils
,
4
C
.
T

test
,
C
.
40
C
.
25. An apparatus for measuring dry density of soil, comprising:
a plurality of spikes adapted to be driven into the soil in spaced relationship;
means for applying to said plurality of spikes an electrical signal suitable for time domain reflectometry;
means for analyzing a reflected signal using time domain reflectometry to determine an apparent dielectric constant Ka of the soil and bulk electrical conductivity ECb of the soil; and
means for calculating dry density d of the soil using a predetermined relationship between Ka, ECb and d.
26. The apparatus of claim 25, wherein the predetermined relationship between Ka, ECb and d is
30
d

=
d
K
a
–

b
EC
b
ad
–
cb
,
where a, b, c and d are soil specific calibration constants.
27. The apparatus of claim 26, further comprising means for calculating gravimetric water content w of the soil using a predetermined relationship between Ka, ECb, and w.
28. The apparatus of claim 25, further comprising means for compensating for soil temperature.
29. An apparatus for measuring gravimetric water content of soil, comprising:
a plurality of spikes adapted to be driven into the soil in spaced relationship;
means for applying to said plurality of spikes an electrical signal suitable for time domain reflectometry;
means for analyzing a reflected signal using time domain reflectometry to determine an apparent dielectric constant Ka of the soil and bulk electrical conductivity ECb of the soil; and
means for calculating gravimetric water content w of the soil using a predetermined relationship between Ka, ECb, and w.
30. The apparatus of claim 29, wherein the predetermined relationship between Ka, ECb and w is
31
w
=
c
K
a
–

a
EC
b
b
EC
b
–

d
K
a
,
where a, b, c and d are soil specific calibration constants.
31. The apparatus of claim 29, further comprising means for compensating for soil temperature.

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

1-24. (canceled)
25. A system for managing media traffic associated with a plurality of customer contact centers, the system comprising:
an edge device deployed in a communications network for facilitating calls between agents and customers of the plurality of contact centers, wherein the agents and customers access the communications network respectively over agent and customer private networks, the agents connecting to the agent private network via a first link, and the customers connecting to the communications network via a second link traversing the customer private network; and
a server system in a computing environment coupled to the communications network, the server system being configured to:
identify calls between the agents and the customers;
identify one of the plurality of customer contact centers associated with the identified calls;
determine availability of the first link for the identified customer contact center; and
in response to the determined availability for the identified customer contact center, triggering an action for preserving a particular quality of service for the identified customer contact center.
26. (canceled)
27. The system of claim 25, wherein the computing environment is a cloud computing environment.
28. The system of claim 25, wherein the determining the availability of the first link includes determining estimated available bandwidth of the first link for the identified contact center.
29. The system of claim 28, wherein the determining the estimated available bandwidth of the first link includes determining a physical media limit for the first link provisioned for the identified contact center.
30. The system of claim 28, wherein the determining the estimated available bandwidth of the communications link includes determining estimated bandwidth consumption for the identified calls.
31. A system for managing media traffic for a particular one of a plurality of contact centers, the system comprising:
one or more processors; and
one or more memory devices coupled to the one or more processors and storing program instructions therein, the one or more processors being configured to execute the program instructions, the program instructions comprising:
identifying calls between agents and customers of the contact center, wherein the agents have access to agent communication devices for accessing the communications network over a private network, the agent communication devices for accessing the private network via a communications link;
identifying one of the plurality of contact centers associated with the identified calls;
determining availability of a communications link for the identified contact center; and
in response to the determined availability for the identified contact center, triggering an action for preserving a particular quality of service for the identified contact center.
32. The system of claim 31, wherein the private network is configured to provide an anticipated quality of service for calls traversing the private network.
33. The system of claim 31, wherein the determining the availability of the communications link includes determining estimated available bandwidth of the communications link for the identified contact center.
34. The system of claim 33, wherein the determining the estimated available bandwidth of the communications link includes determining a physical media limit for the communications link provisioned for the identified contact center.
35. The system of claim 33, wherein the determining the estimated available bandwidth of the communications link includes determining estimated bandwidth consumption for the identified calls.
36. The system of claim 35, wherein the program instructions further include:
comparing the estimated bandwidth consumption for the identified calls against a threshold bandwidth consumption amount; and
triggering the action in response to determining that the estimated bandwidth consumption for the identified calls satisfies the threshold bandwidth consumption amount.
37. The system of claim 31, wherein the action is canceling an outbound campaign for the identified contact center.
38. The system of claim 31, wherein the action is activating a greeting turning down a new inbound call directed to the contact center.
39. A method for managing media traffic for a particular one of a plurality of contact centers, the method comprising:
identifying calls between agents and customers of the plurality of contact centers, the agents having access to agent communication devices for accessing a communications network over a private network, the agent communication devices for accessing the private network via a communications link;
identifying one of the plurality of contact centers associated with the identified calls;
determining availability of the communications link for the identified contact center; and
in response to the determined availability for the identified contact center, triggering an action for preserving a particular quality of service for the identified contact center.
40. The method of claim 39, wherein the private network is configured to provide a particular quality of service for calls traversing the private network.
41. The method of claim 39, wherein the determining the availability of the communications link includes determining estimated available bandwidth of the communications link for the identified contact center.
42. The method of claim 41, wherein the determining the estimated available bandwidth of the communications link includes determining a physical media limit for the communications link provisioned for the identified contact center.
43. The method of claim 41, wherein the dete mining the estimated available bandwidth of the communications link includes determining estimated bandwidth consumption for the identified calls.
44. The method of claim 43 further comprising:
comparing the estimated bandwidth consumption for the identified calls against a threshold bandwidth consumption amount; and
triggering the action in response to determining that the estimated bandwidth consumption for the identified calls satisfies the threshold bandwidth consumption amount.
45. The method of claim 39, wherein the action is canceling an outbound campaign for the identified contact center.
46. The method of claim 39, wherein the action is activating a greeting turning down a new inbound call directed to the contact center.
47. The method of claim 39, wherein the calls between the agents and customers are serviced by contact center applications hosted by a first server system in a first computing environment, the method further comprising:
signaling a second server system in a second computing environment to service second calls directed to the identified contact center.

1. A semiconductor package, comprising:
an organic substrate;
a stiffness layer, formed on the organic substrate; and
a chip subassembly, disposed on the stiffness layer, the chip subassembly comprising at least a first chip, a second chip, and a third chip, the second chip being disposed between the first chip and the third chip in a stacked orientation, the second chip supporting proximity communication between the first chip and the third chip.
2. The semiconductor package according to claim 1, wherein:
the first, second and third chips respectively have first, second and third signal pads formed on a major surface thereof;
the second chip are arranged in face-to-face manner with the first chip and the third chip so that at least some of the second signal pads are capacitively) coupled to at least some of the first signal pads and at least some of the third signal pads;
the major surface of the second chip is spaced apart from the major surfaces of the first and third chips.
3. The semiconductor package according to claim 2, wherein the first and third chips are electrically connected to organic substrate by a plurality of bonding wires.
4. The semiconductor package according to claim 2, wherein each of the first chip and the third chip has a plurality of electric contacts, the stiffness layer has a plurality of vias, and the electric contacts of the first chip and the third chip are electrically connected to the organic substrate by the vias.
5. The semiconductor package according to claim 1, wherein each of the first chip and the third chip has a plurality of electric contacts, the stiffness layer has a plurality of vias, and the electric contacts of the first chip and the third chip are electrically connected to the organic substrate by the vias.
6. The semiconductor package according to claim 1, wherein the chip subassembly comprising a plurality of chips arranged in matrix.
7. A semiconductor package, comprising:
an organic substrate;
a chip subassembly, disposed on the organic substrate, the chip subassembly comprising at least a first chip, a second chip, and a third chip, the second chip being disposed between the first chip and the third chip in a stacked and flipped orientation, the second chip supporting proximity communication between the first chip and the third chip; and
a stiffness layer, disposed on the chip subassembly.
8. The semiconductor package according to claim 7, wherein each of the first chip and the third chip has a plurality of bumps with which the first chip and third chip are electrically connected to the organic substrate, the second chip has a plurality of bonding wires with which the second chip is electrically connected to the organic substrate, the stiffness layer has at least one opening whose position is corresponding to the position of the bonding wires.
9. The semiconductor package according to claim 7, wherein the organic substrate has a cavity for receiving the second chip.
10. The semiconductor package according to claim 7, wherein each of the first chip and the third chip has a plurality of metal pillars with which the first chip and the third chip are electrically connected to the organic substrate, the height of the metal pillars are substantially equal to the height of the second chip.
11. The semiconductor package according to claim 7, wherein:
the first, second and third chips respectively have first, second and third signal pads formed on a major surface thereof;
the second chip are arranged in face-to-face manner with the first chip and the third chip so that at least some of the second signal pads are capacitively coupled to at least some of the first signal pads and at least some of the third signal pads;
the major surface of the second chip is spaced apart from the major surfaces of the first and third chips.
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 bump fabrication process for forming a bump on a wafer having an active surface with a passivation layer and at least one bonding pad thereon such that the passivation layer exposes the bonding pad, the process comprising the steps of:
forming a patterned solder mask layer with a pattern over the active surface of the wafer, wherein the solder mask layer has at least one opening that exposes the bonding pad, and a cross-sectional area through a bottom-section of the opening is smaller than a cross-sectional area through a mid-section of the opening, while a cross-sectional area through a top-section of the opening is smaller than the cross-sectional area through the mid-section of the opening;
depositing a solder material into the opening;
conducting a reflow process so that the solder material inside the opening fuses together to form a bump; and
removing the solder mask layer.
2. The process of claim 1, wherein the bump is fabricated using leaded solder material or lead-free solder material.
3. The process of claim 1, wherein the step of forming the solder mask layer includes forming a first patterned photoresistant layer having at least one first opening therein such that the first opening exposes the bonding pad and that cross-sectional area through bottom-section of the first opening is smaller than cross-sectional area through a top-section of the first opening.
4. The process of claim 3, wherein the first patterned photoresistant layer is fabricated using liquid photoresist or dry film.
5. The process of claim 3, after the step of forming the first patterned photoresistant layer, further including forming a second patterned photoresistant layer over the first patterned photoresistant layer such that the second patterned photoresistant layer has at least a second opening that links up with the first opening and exposes the bonding pad and that cross-sectional area through bottom-section of the second opening is larger than cross-sectional area through top-section of the second opening.
6. The process of claim 5, wherein the second patterned photoresistant layer is fabricated using dry film.
7. The process of claim 1, wherein the solder material is in powder form or paste form.
8. The process of claim 1, wherein before the step of forming the solder mask layer, an under-ball-metallurgy layer is formed over the bonding pad so that the bump is disposed on the under-ball-metallurgy layer.
9. A bump fabrication process for forming a bump on a wafer having an active surface with a passivation layer and at least one bonding pad thereon such that the passivation layer exposes the bonding pad, the process comprising the steps of:
forming a pre-formed bump over the bonding pad of the wafer;
forming a patterned solder mask layer with a pattern over the active surface of the water, wherein the solder mask layer has at least one opening that exposes the pre-formed bump, and a cross-sectional area through a bottom-section of the opening is smaller than a cross-sectional area through a mid-section of the opening;
depositing a solder material into the opening;
conducting a reflow process so that the solder material inside the opening and the pre-formed bump fuse together to form a bump; and
removing the solder mask layer.
10. The process of claim 9, wherein a cross-sectional area through a top-section of the opening is smaller than the cross-sectional area through the mid-section of the opening.
11. The process of claim 9, wherein the solder material is fabricated using constituents that differ from the constituents inside the pre-formed bump.
12. The process of claim 9, wherein the bump is fabricated using leaded solder material or lead-free solder material.
13. The process of claim 9, wherein the step of forming the solder mask layer includes forming a first patterned photoresistant layer having at least one first opening therein such that the opening exposes the pre-formed bump and that cross-sectional area through bottom-section of the first opening is smaller than a cross-sectional area through a top-section of the first opening.
14. The process of claim 13, wherein the first patterned photoresistant layer is fabricated using liquid photoresist or dry film.
15. The process claim 13, after the step of forming the first patterned photoresistant layer, further including forming a second patterned photoresistant layer over the first patterned photoresistant layer such that the second patterned photoresistant layer has at least a second opening that links up with the first opening and exposes the pre-formed bump and that cross-sectional area through bottom-section of the second opening is larger than a cross-sectional area through top-section of the second opening.
16. The process of claim 15, wherein the second patterned photoresistant layer is fabricated using dry film.
17. The process of claim 9, wherein the solder material is in powder form or paste form.
18. The process of claim 9, before the step of forming the solder mask layer, further including forming an under-ball-metallurgy layer over the bonding pad so that the bump is disposed on the under-ball-metallurgy layer.
19. A bump fabrication process for forming at least a second bump on a wafer having an active surface with at least a first bump thereon, the process comprising the steps of:
forming a patterned solder mask layer with a pattern over the active surface of the wafer, wherein the solder mask layer has at least one opening that exposes the first bump, and a cross-sectional area through a bottom-section of the opening is smaller than a cross-sectional area through a mid-section of the opening;
depositing a solder material into the opening;
conducting a reflow process so that the solder material inside the opening and the first bump fuse together to form a second bump; and
removing the solder mask layer.
20. The process of claim 19, wherein a cross-sectional area through a top-section of the opening is smaller than the cross-sectional area through the mid-section of the opening.
21. The process of claim 19, wherein the solder material is fabricated using constituents that differ from the constituents inside the first bump.
22. The process of claim 19, wherein the first and second bumps are fabricated using leaded solder material or lead-free solder material.
23. The process of claim 19, wherein the step of forming the solder mask layer includes forming a first patterned photoresistant layer having at least one first opening therein such that the opening exposes the first bump and that cross-sectional area through a bottom-section of the first opening is smaller than a cross-sectional area through the top-section of the first opening.
24. The process of claim 23, wherein the first patterned photoresistant layer is fabricated using liquid photoresist or dry film.
25. The process of claim 23, after the step of forming the first photoresistant layer, further including forming a second patterned photoresistant layer over the first patterned photoresistant layer such that the second patterned photoresistant layer has at least a second opening that links up with the first opening and exposes the first bump and that cross-sectional area through bottom-section of the second opening is larger than cross-sectional area through ac top-section of the second opening.
26. The process of claim 25, wherein the second patterned photoresistant layer is fabricated using dry film.
27. The process of claim 19, wherein the solder material is in powder form or paste form.