All The Claims

1. A system for reducing flow stagnation between substantially adjacent components and enhancing heat distribution of the components comprising:
a first component and a second component, each of the first and second components being generally hollow and having at least two walls adjoining each other in a corner region, each of the at least two walls having an interior surface and an exterior surface, each of the at least two walls including a substantially planar region transitioning into the corner region, each substantially planar region having a wall thickness, wherein the exterior surfaces of the two walls join in the corner region to form an outer edge and the interior surfaces of the two walls join in the corner region to form an inner edge, the distance between the inner edge and the outer edge defining an edge thickness,
wherein, in the corner region, the interior surface of each wall approaches the exterior surface such that the edge thickness is less than or equal to the wall thickness, and
wherein the first and second components are substantially adjacent such that the outer edges are disposed opposite and substantially parallel to each other,
whereby the adjacent outer edges allows reduce stagnation air flow around the first and second components and the edge thickness in the corner region that is less than or equal to the wall thickness provides enhanced heat transfer properties.
2. The system of claim 1 wherein the first and second components are turbine engine components.
3. The system of claim 1 wherein the first and second components are head end plates, whereby the head end plates close off at least a portion of the combustion chamber of a turbine engine.
4. The system of claim 1 wherein the first and second components are disposed substantially laterally adjacent to each other.
5. The system of claim 1 wherein the first and second components are disposed substantially circumferentially adjacent to each other.
6. The system of claim 1 wherein a coolant is supplied to the hollow interior of the first and second components.
7. The system of claim 1 wherein the exterior surfaces of the component walls are exposed to high temperature gas flow.
8. The system of claim 1 wherein the outer edges culminate in a substantially 90 degree edge.
9. The system of claim 1 wherein the outer edges culminate in a substantially rounded edge portion.
10. A system for reducing flow stagnation between substantially adjacent components and enhancing corner heat distribution of the components comprising:
a first component and a second component, each of the first and second components being generally hollow and having at least two walls with an interior surface and an exterior surface, each of the at least two walls including a substantially planar region transitioning into a corner region, each substantially planar region having a wall thickness,
the exterior surfaces of the at least two walls joining in the corner region to form an outer edge, each of the outer edges being shaped to reduce stagnation of fluid flow therearound,
the interior surfaces of the at least two walls joining in the corner region to form an inner edge, the interior surfaces being arranged relative to the exterior surfaces to provide enhanced heat distribution properties in the corner regions of the components, wherein, in the corner region, the interior surface of each wall approaches the exterior surface such that the thickness at the inner edge is less than or equal to the wall thickness,
whereby the adjacent outer edges allows reduce stagnation air flow around the first and second components and the thickness of the inner edge that is less than or equal to the wall thickness provides enhanced heat transfer properties.
11. A component having enhanced thermal distribution properties comprising:
a generally hollow body including an inner volume, wherein the inner volume is supplied with a coolant, the body having at least two walls adjoining each other in a corner region, each of the at least two walls having an interior surface and an exterior surface, each of the at least two walls including a substantially planar region transitioning into the corner region, each substantially planar region having a wall thickness, wherein the exterior surfaces of the at least two walls join in the corner region to form an outer edge and the interior surfaces of the at least two walls join in the corner region to form an inner edge, the distance between the inner edge and the outer edge defining an edge thickness,
wherein, in the corner region, the interior surface of each wall approaches the exterior surface such that the edge thickness is less than or equal to the wall thickness.
12. The component of claim 11 wherein the component is substantially rectangular.
13. The component of claim 11 wherein the wall thicknesses of the at least two walls are substantially identical.
14. The component of claim 11 wherein the outer edge culminates in a substantially 90 degree edge.
15. The component of claim 11 wherein the outer edge culminates in a substantially rounded edge.

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. An image display system having a multi-gate thin-film transistor (TFT) disposed on a transparent substrate, wherein the multi-gate TFT comprises:
a silicon film layer, which is formed on the transparent substrate and has a first crystallization zone and a second crystallization zone that are not adjacent to each other, wherein a grain size of the first crystallization zone is smaller than a grain size of the second crystallization zone;
a first electrode, which corresponds to the first crystallization zone and is disposed on the silicon film layer; and
a reflecting layer, which corresponds to the second crystallization zone and is disposed on the transparent substrate, wherein the silicon film layer is disposed on the transparent substrate and the reflecting layer.
2. The system according to claim 1, wherein the silicon film layer is illuminated by a laser beam having a wavelength longer than 400 nanometers and absorbs a portion of the laser beam so that the silicon film layer is heated to melt, and the other portion of the laser beam penetrates through the second crystallization zone of the silicon film layer and is reflected from the reflecting layer to the silicon film layer so that the second crystallization zone of the silicon film layer absorbs the reflected laser beam and is thus heated and recrystallized.
3. The system according to claim 1, wherein the multi-gate TFT further comprises:
a second electrode, which corresponds to the second crystallization zone and is disposed on the silicon film layer.
4. The system according to claim 3, wherein the first electrode serves as a gate of a first sub-TFT, and the second electrode serves as a gate of a second sub-TFT.
5. The system according to claim 3, wherein the first electrode serves as a gate of a first sub-TFT, and the second electrode and the reflecting layer serve as a gate of a second sub-TFT.
6. The system according to claim 1, wherein the first electrode serves as a gate of a first sub-TFT, and the reflecting layer serves as a gate of a second sub-TFT.
7. The system according to claim 6, wherein the first sub-TFT operates in an active region, and the second sub-TFT operates in a saturation region.
8. The system according to claim 7, wherein a width-to-length ratio of a channel region of the first sub-TFT is smaller than a width-to-length ratio of a channel region of the second sub-TFT.
9. The system according to claim 1, wherein the reflecting layer has a thickness greater than 100 angstroms.
10. The system according to claim 1, wherein a length of the first crystallization zone is longer than a length of the second crystallization zone.
11. The system according to claim 1, wherein the multi-gate TFT further comprises:
a buffer layer disposed on the transparent substrate, wherein the silicon film layer is disposed on the buffer layer; and
a gate insulating layer disposed on the silicon film layer, wherein the first electrode is disposed on the gate insulating layer.
12. The system according to claim 1, wherein the silicon film layer further comprises:
a first doped region disposed near the first crystallization zone to serve as a source of the multi-gate TFT;
a second doped region disposed between the first crystallization zone and the second crystallization zone; and
a third doped region disposed near the second crystallization zone to serve as a drain of the multi-gate TFT.
13. The system according to claim 1, further comprising:
an active matrix display panel having the transparent substrate and the multi-gate TFT.
14. The system according to claim 13, further comprising:
an electronic device having the active matrix display panel and an input unit coupled with the active matrix display panel, wherein the input unit provides an input for the active matrix display panel to make the active matrix display panel display an image.
15. The system according to claim 14, wherein the electronic device is a mobile phone, a digital camera, a personal digital assistant, a notebook computer, a desktop computer, a television, a vehicle display or a portable DVD player.
16. A method of manufacturing a multi-gate thin-film transistor (TFT), the method comprising steps of:
forming a reflecting layer on a transparent substrate;
forming a silicon film layer on the transparent substrate and the reflecting layer, wherein the silicon film layer has a first crystallization zone and a second crystallization zone corresponding to the reflecting layer;
illuminating a laser beam having a wavelength longer than 400 nanometers on the silicon film layer, wherein the silicon film layer absorbs a portion of the laser beam and is thus heated to melt, and the other portion of the laser beam penetrates through the second crystallization zone of the silicon film layer and is reflected from the reflecting layer to the silicon film layer so that the second crystallization zone of the silicon film layer absorbs the reflected laser beam and is heated and recrystallized;
forming a gate insulating layer on the silicon film layer; and
forming a first electrode, which corresponds to the first crystallization zone, on the gate insulating layer.
17. The method according to claim 16, further comprising a step of:
forming a second electrode, which corresponds to the second crystallization zone, on the gate insulating layer.
18. The method according to claim 17, wherein the first electrode serves as a gate of a first sub-TFT, and the second electrode serves as a gate of a second sub-TFT.
19. The method according to claim 17, wherein the first electrode serves as a gate of a first sub-TFT, and the second electrode and the reflecting layer serve as a gate of a second sub-TFT.
20. The method according to claim 16, wherein the first electrode serves as a gate of a first sub-TFT, and the reflecting layer serves as a gate of a second sub-TFT.

1. A method of exploiting a signaling message related to a predetermined open system interconnect layer of a wireless communication system and configured to transmit signaling information specific to said open system interconnect layer for transmitting data different from said signaling information, comprising:
ascertaining the presence of unallotted space in said signaling message related to said predetermined open system interconnect layer;
based on the ascertained presence of unallotted space, determining an amount of transmissible data different from said signaling, wherein said transmissible data relates to a second open system interconnect layer different from said predetermined open system interconnect layer; and
modifying the signaling message by filling at least part of the unallotted space with said amount of transmissible data.
2. The method according to claim 1, wherein said unallotted space comprises padding bits provided in the signaling message for reaching a predetermined message length.
3. The method according to claim 2, wherein said modifying comprises the step of including in the signaling message an indication of a presence of said amount of transmissible data in the signaling message.
4. The method according to claim 3, wherein said indication of the presence of said amount of transmissible data in the signaling message is configured to specify the amount of transmissible data put in said unallotted space.
5. The method according to claim 4, wherein said signaling message is a message at a network open system interconnect layer.
6. The method according to claim 5, wherein said wireless communication network is a wireless fidelity network, and said signaling message is a beacon message.
7. The method according to claim 5, wherein said wireless communication system is a cellular telephony network, a global system for mobile communication or a universal telecommunication system network, and said signaling message is a radio resource-level or, respectively, a radio resource control-level message.
8. The method according to claim 7, wherein said radio resource control-level message is a system information message.
9. The method according to claim 8, wherein, including the indication of the presence of said amount of transmissible data, comprises:
defining a custom system information message field; and
assigning to said custom system information message field a value corresponding to said amount of transmissible data.
10. The method according to claim 9, wherein said filling at least part of the unallotted space with said amount of transmissible data comprises:
segmenting a data string to be transmitted into a plurality of segments; and
filling at least part of the unallotted space of the signaling message with at least one of said segments, together with an indication of relative position of the at least one segment within the data string.
11. The method according to claim 1, comprising:
when receiving the signaling message, extracting the data in the unallotted space therein.
12. The method according to claim 11, wherein said modifying comprises the step of including in the signaling message an indication of a presence of said amount of transmissible data in the signaling message, and further comprising exploiting said indication of the presence of data for ascertaining a presence of data in the unallotted space of the received signaling message.
13. The method according to claim 11, wherein said indication of the presence of said amount of transmissible data in the signalling message is configured to specify the amount of transmissible data put in said unallotted space, and further comprising exploiting said amount of transmissible data put in said unallotted space for determining the amount of data to be extracted from the received signaling message.
14. A method of receiving a signaling message related to a predetermined open system interconnect layer of a wireless communication system and intended to transmit signaling information specific to said open system interconnect layer, comprising:
ascertaining the presence of unallotted space in the signaling message, wherein said ascertaining comprises ascertaining that the unallotted space comprises data different from said signaling information, wherein said data relates to a second open system interconnect layer different from said predetermined open system interconnect layer; and
based on said ascertaining, extracting said data from the unallotted space.
15. The method according to claim 14, wherein said ascertaining further comprises determining an amount of said data.
16. The method according to claim 15, wherein said signaling message is a message at the network open system interconnect layer.
17. The method according to claim 16, wherein said wireless communication network is a wireless fidelity network, and said signaling message is a beacon message.
18. The method according to claim 17, wherein said wireless communication system is a cellular telephony network, a global system for mobile communication or a universal telecommunication system network, and said signaling message is a radio resource-level or, respectively, a radio resource control-level message.
19. The method according to claim 18, wherein said radio resource control-level message is a system information message.
20. The method according to claim 19, wherein determining an amount of said data comprises:
identifying a custom system information message field; and
retrieving from said custom message field a value corresponding to said amount of data.
21. A device of a wireless communication system, comprising:
an unallotted space ascertaining unit configured to ascertain a presence of unallotted space in a signaling message to be transmitted related to a predetermined open system interconnect layer of the wireless communication system, said signaling message being intended to transmit signaling information specific of said opening system interconnect layer; and
an unallotted space filler unit configured to at least partly fill the unallotted space with data different from said signaling information, wherein said data relates to a second open system interconnect layer different from said predetermined open system interconnect layer.
22. The device according to claim 21, comprising a radio access part of the wireless communications network.
23. The device according to claim 21, further comprising:
a unit configured to ascertain the presence of data in the unallotted space in a received signaling message related to a predetermined open system interconnect layer of the wireless communication system, said signaling message carrying signaling information specific of said open system interconnect layer; and
a data extractor unit configured to extract said data from the unallotted space.
24. User equipment for use in a wireless communication system, comprising:
a unit configured to ascertain a presence of data in an unallotted space in a received signaling message related to a predetermined open system interconnect layer of the wireless communication system, said signaling message carrying signaling information specific to said predetermined open system interconnect layer, wherein said data relates to a second open system interconnect layer different from said predetermined open system interconnect layer; and
a data extractor unit configured to extract said data from the unallotted space.
25. A method of broadcasting data to a plurality of users of a wireless communication system, comprising:
transmitting said data to the plurality of users by the method of claim 1, wherein said transmission is performed via a broadcast channel of the communication system; and
transmitting said data to the plurality of users by a method of transmitting a signaling message related to a predetermined open system interconnect layer of a wireless communication system and intended to transmit signaling information specific of said open system interconnect layer, comprising:
indicating the presence of unallotted space in the signaling message, wherein said indicating comprises indicating that the unallotted space comprises data different from said signaling information, wherein said transmissible data relates to a second open system interconnect layer different from said predetermined open system interconnect layer; and
said indicating permitting extraction of said data from the unallotted space.

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

We claim:

1. An integrated combustor, comprising:
a combustion chamber comprising a combustion catalyst;
an endothermic reaction chamber comprising a catalyst, the endothermic reaction chamber having a length;
a thermally conductive wall disposed between the combustion chamber and the endothermic reaction chamber;
wherein the combustion catalyst is disposed on a side of the endothermic reaction chamber such that, during operation, heat from a combustion reaction on the combustion catalyst is transferred along the length of the reforming chamber, and less than 10% of total heat flux into the endothermic reaction chamber is perpendicular to length.
2. The combustor of claim 1 wherein the catalyst in the endothermic reaction chamber comprises a steam reforming catalyst.
3. The combustor of claim 2 wherein the length of the endothermic reaction chamber is at least two times more than the length of the combustion chamber.
4. The combustor of claim 3 wherein catalyst substantially fills the endothermic reaction chamber.
5. The combustor of claim 3 wherein the endothermic reaction chamber is part of a reforming channel and further wherein a methanation catalyst is disposed in the reforming channel.
6. The combustor of claim 5 wherein the reaction channel is a microchannel.
7. A method of transferring heat to an endothermic reaction in the integrated combustor of claim 1, comprising:
combusting a fuel on the combustion catalyst and generating heat in the combustion chamber;
wherein heat from the combustion chamber transfers through the thermally conductive wall into the endothermic reaction chamber and along the length of the endothermic reaction chamber and wherein less than 10% of total heat flux into the endothermic reaction chamber is perpendicular to length.
8. The method of claim 7 wherein the catalyst in the endothermic reaction chamber comprises a steam reforming catalyst, and wherein an alcohol and water flow into the endothermic reaction chamber and hydrogen gas is produced with a thermal efficiency of at least 10%.
9. A method of reforming an alcohol, in a device having adjacent combustion and steam reforming chambers, comprising:
combusting a fuel in a combustion chamber;
transferring heat from the combustion chamber across a chamber wall into a steam reforming chamber;
reforming an alcohol at a temperature of 300 C. or less to produce a product stream comprising H2 in a H2:CO ratio of 70:1 or less; and
wherein the method has a thermal efficiency of at least 10%.
10. The method of claim 9 wherein the device having adjacent combustion and steam reforming chambers has a volume of 1 ml or less.
11. The method of claim 9 wherein an alcohol and water react on a reforming catalyst and the resulting products react on a methanation catalyst without any intervening step to purify the resulting products.
12. The method of claim 11 wherein the product stream comprises H2 in a H2:CO ratio of 10,000:1 or less.
13. The method of claim 9 wherein the method possesses stability such that after at least 100 hours of operation there is 5% or less degradation in the conversion of alcohol and 5% or less degradation in the H2:CO ratio.
14. The method of claim 13 wherein the steam reforming catalyst comprises Pd and Zn.
15. An integrated combustorreformer, comprising:
a combustion chamber comprising a combustion catalyst;
a reforming chamber comprising a reforming catalyst;
a thermally conductive wall separating the combustion chamber and the reforming chamber; and
wherein the integrated combustorreformer is characterizable by a thermal efficiency such that when H2O in a 1.2:1 molar ratio are feed into the reforming chamber at a contact time of 1.0 seconds, and fuel and oxygen are combusted in the combustion chamber at a rate sufficient to obtain an average temperature of 320 C. within the reforming chamber, there is, at steady-state, a thermal efficiency of at least 10%, and the product gas contains 0.5% or less CO.
16. The integrated combustorreformer of claim 15 wherein the integrated combustorreformer is characterizable by a thermal efficiency such that when H2O in a 1.2:1 molar ratio are feed into the reforming chamber at a contact time of 1.0 seconds, and hydrogen and air in a H2:O2 ratio of 0.5 are combusted in the combustion chamber at a rate sufficient to obtain an average temperature of 320 C. within the reforming chamber, there is, at steady-state, a thermal efficiency of at least 10%, and the product gas contains 0.50% or less CO.
17. The integrated combustorreformer of claim 16 wherein the integrated combustorreformer is characterizable by a thermal efficiency such that when H2O in a 1.2:1 molar ratio are feed into the reforming chamber at a contact time of 1.0 seconds, and hydrogen and air in a H2:O2 ratio of 0.5 are combusted in the combustion chamber at a rate sufficient to obtain an average temperature of 320 C. within the reforming chamber, there is, at steady-state, a thermal efficiency in the range of 10 to 35%, and the product gas contains 0.5% or less CO.
18. The integrated combustorreformer of claim 16 wherein the integrated combustorreformer is characterizable by a thermal efficiency such that when H2O in a 1.2:1 molar ratio are feed into the reforming chamber at a contact time of 1.0 seconds, and hydrogen and air in a H2:O2 ratio of 0.5 are combusted in the combustion chamber at a rate sufficient to obtain an average temperature of 320 C. within the reforming chamber, there is, at steady-state, a thermal efficiency in the range of 10 to 25%, and the product gas comprises H2 in a H2:CO ratio of 10,000:1 or less.
19. The integrated combustorreformer of claim 16 having a volume of 20 ml or less and does not contain repeating units.
20. An integrated combustorreformer, comprising:
a combustion chamber comprising a combustion catalyst;
a reforming channel comprising an inlet, a reforming chamber, and an outlet;
wherein the reforming chamber comprises a reforming catalyst;
wherein the reforming channel further comprises a methanation catalyst (1) in direct contact with reforming catalyst, or (2) disposed between the catalyst and the outlet wherein there is no H2-selective membrane disposed between the reforming catalyst and the methanation catalyst and wherein there is not a separate heat exchanger in thermal contact with the methanation catalyst;

a thermally conductive wall separating the combustion chamber and the reforming chamber; and
wherein the reforming channel has at least one dimension of 5 mm or less.
21. The integrated combustorreformer of claim 20 wherein the steam reforming catalyst comprises co-precipitated Zn and Pd.
22. The integrated combustorreformer of claim 20 wherein the methanation catalyst comprises a large pore support.
23. The integrated combustorreformer of claim 20 wherein the combustion catalyst is disposed on a side of the steam reforming chamber such that, during operation, heat from a combustion reaction on the combustion catalyst is transferred along the length of the reforming chamber, and less than 10% of total heat flux into the endothermic reaction chamber is perpendicular to length.
24. The integrated combustorreformer of claim 23 wherein the reforming channel comprises a single inlet and a single outlet.
25. The integrated combustorreformer of claim 20 wherein the integrated combustorreformer is characterizable by a thermal efficiency such that when H2O in a 1.2:1 molar ratio are feed into the reforming chamber at a contact time of 1.0 seconds, and hydrogen and air in a H2:O2 ratio of 0.5 are combusted in the combustion chamber at a rate sufficient to obtain an average temperature of 320 C. within the reforming chamber, there is, at steady-state, a thermal efficiency of at least 10%, and the product gas contains 0.5% or less CO.
26. A method of reforming an alcohol, comprising:
passing a reactant mixture comprising alcohol and water into a reforming channel comprising an inlet, a reforming chamber, a reforming catalyst, a methanation catalyst, and an outlet;
passing a fuel and an oxidant into a combustion chamber comprising a combustion catalyst;
wherein the fuel in the combustion chamber combusts to produce heat that transfers across a thermally conductive wall into the reforming chamber;
maintaining the temperature of the reforming catalyst in the range of 200 to 400 C. and maintaining the temperature of the methanation catalyst in the range of 220 to 270 C. and wherein there is a portion of reforming catalyst that is closest to a portion of methanation catalyst and wherein the temperature difference between the portion of reforming catalyst that is closest to a portion of methanation catalyst and the portion of methanation catalyst closest to a reforming catalyst is 20 C. or less;
wherein the reforming catalyst and methanation catalyst are disposed in the reforming channel such that reformed products do not pass through a H2-selective membrane before contacting the methanation catalyst;
and wherein, at least 80% of the alcohol is converted to products and, after contacting the methanation catalyst, a product stream is produced that contains H2 in a H2:CO ratio of at least 100 and contains less than 20 mol% of the alcohol present in the reactant mixture.
27. The method of claim 26 wherein the methanation catalyst contacts the reforming catalyst.
28. The method of claim 26 wherein the alcohol is methanol and wherein the method has a thermal efficiency of at least 10%.
29. The method of claim 26 comprising:
a reforming step wherein the alcohol and water react on the reforming catalyst to form a product stream comprising hydrogen and CO,
a methanation step wherein the CO in the product stream reacts with hydrogen over the methanation catalyst to produce methane, and
wherein there is no intervening heat exchange or H2 purification between the reforming step and the methanation step.
30. The integrated combustorreformer of claim 15 that is characterizable by a thermal efficiency such that when H2O in a 1.2:1 molar ratio are feed into the reforming chamber at a contact time of 1.5 seconds, and fuel and oxygen are combusted in the combustion chamber at a rate sufficient to obtain an average temperature of 320 C. within the reforming chamber, there is, at steady-state, a thermal efficiency of at least 10%, and the product gas contains 0.1% or less CO.
31. A method of reforming an alcohol, in a device having adjacent combustion and steam reforming chambers, comprising:
combusting a fuel in a combustion chamber;
transferring heat from the combustion chamber across a chamber wall into a steam reforming chamber;
reforming an alcohol to produce a product stream comprising at least 5 sccm H2 per cc of total device volume in a H2:CO ratio of 70:1 or less; wherein the device has a total volume of 20 ml or less; and
wherein the H2:CO ratio of 70:1 or less is obtained without a H2-selective membrane.
32. The method of claim 31 wherein the method has a thermal efficiency of at least 10%.
33. The method of claim 31 wherein no preferential oxidation is used to remove CO from the product stream.