Systems and methods for calibrating an image projection system, using image capture devices are disclosed. In particular, Wide-Angle (WA) and Ultra Wide-Angle (UWA) lenses can be utilized to eliminate need for traditional test patterns and tedious alignment settings. That is particularly useful for automatic calibration of projection sources that may require frequent adjustments on the field. Geometric mapping techniques combined with image analytics allow identifying parallel lines in an image captured from a scene. Coordinates of vanishing points corresponding to pairs of parallel lines provide sufficient information to determine orientation of the image projection system in space.

Image projection systems are known to be highly susceptible to geometric image distortions due to their positional freedom. Essentially, any deviation from perpendicularity of the axis that connects the light source of a projector to a viewing surface (normally the optical axis) causes a so-called keystone distortion. Although occurring in rear-projection configurations too, this effect is more pronounced in front-projection configurations that have typically a long throw ratio.
Several prior art patents address electronic correction of geometric distortions, in addition to older mechanical solutions. A majority of the electronic correction methods exploit some form of calibration test patterns that consist of precisely positioned objects (lines, circles, rectangles, etc.) on the projection surface; or use a fixed reference such as physical bezels of the projection surface. These solutions are generally suitable for calibrations in controlled environments, where devices are stationary or have limited displacements. Also, they may require precise alignment jobs. The U.S. Pat. No. 8,406,562 teaches a comprehensive test pattern and reference based calibration techniques applicable to most image systems including rear and front view projectors, and various surface geometries. Another class of calibration methods, for example as taught in the U.S. Pat. No. 6,877,863; relies on position and orientation measurement sensors to quantify distortion parameters. That in turn requires extra components and tools.
In some set-ups, such as a car Heads-Up-Display (HUD) or a Helmet-Mounted-Display (HMD), the projectors are susceptible to constant displacements from the ideal (also referred to as reference) position. Yet, it is crucial to have an undistorted image at all time. Therefore, there is a need for fast, frequent, and automatic calibration on the run. Further, it would be desirable to eliminate additional resources (test patterns, test pattern generators) and alignment tasks needed to perform the calibration.
The present invention takes advantage of digital imaging combined with image analytic techniques to extract projectors' rotational angles from naturally occurring scenes, instead of calibration patterns. Capture devices equipped with Wide-Angle (WA) and particularly Ultra Wide-Angle (UWA) lenses, lenses having a field of view of at least 180°, almost guarantee capture of useful information from a scene. This approach would be at the expense of complexity of UWA mapping calculations and performing heavier image processing. The co-pending patent application PCTUS2012/027189 teaches techniques of UWA lens mapping; content of which will be used as a reference.

System and method for automated test-pattern-free projection calibration


A crane, particularly a large mobile crane, including an undercarriage (1); a revolving joint (3) on the undercarriage (1); and a superstructure on the revolving joint (3). The superstructure includes a central part (5) rotatably mounted on the revolving part (3), a boom connected to the central part (5), a swing part (6), and a horizontal swing bearing (9) pivotally mounting the swing part in upwardly swingable manner on the central part (5). The crane further includes at least one winch mounted on the swing part (6) and a retraction mechanism at the end of the swing part (6) opposite the swing bearing (9). The retraction mechanism includes a pulley head (16) and a bracing (25) for the boom.

Cranes of the above type include essentially an undercarriage--frequently developed for travel--a superstructure rotatable thereon around a vertical axis, as well as at least one boom which is swingable in the vertical plane and on the upper end of which further booms can be pivoted. For the raising--as well as the lowering--of the main boom various devices are known and furthermore necessary, as can be noted, for instance, from Federal Republic of Germany Patent 29 33 382. While the measures disclosed in that patent cover the requirements as to the stability of the crane upon use and its supporting capacity, these measures not only represent a considerable structural expense and thus also considerable weight for the machine also an expenditure of time upon the setting up and removal of the apparatus, which reduces the use-time.
In addition, under the law governing mobile cranes on highways the permissible axle loads are subject to an upper limit. These provisions lead, particularly in the case of large mobile cranes, to a large number of axles, so that 10-axle machines are no rarity. This also means expensive constructions of the undercarriage, in which connection extremely powerful drive units are necessary for the transporting of the entire vehicle. This drive must be transmitted via an expensive longitudinal differential to a plurality of axles which are at a great distance from each other. Due to its high power, the drive of the undercarriage cannot be readily used also for the operation of the crane, so that an additional drive unit with the customary peripheries for the crane is provided in the superstructure. To this end, suggestions are made in Federal Republic of Germany OS 36 39 709 for reducing the cost of manufacture.
None of these previously known proposals, however, has been able in any way to change the fact that the requirement of the highest possible supporting capacities could be satisfied only at a correspondingly high structural expense--with the result of considerably greater weights--and with the disadvantage of costly setup times.

Crane, in particular a large mobile crane


An object of the present invention is to provide a tensioner and a rocking lever that have simple configurations and that enable an increase in the volume of a space provided inside a plunger, the tensioner and the rocking lever being capable of preventing a stopper pin from being damaged or falling out. A plunger pin hole 121 is formed in a plunger 120 of a tensioner 100. In a tensioner body 110, a body pin hole 113 is formed in a tip protruding portion 112 provided so as to protrude from a side of an opening of the plunger housing hole 121. One of lips 154 provided on opposite sides, in a width direction, of the pressing surface 153 of a rocking lever 150 so as to protrude from the pressing surface 153, has a thinned portion 155 thinned in the width direction.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a tensioner including a tensioner body having a cylindrical plunger housing hole that is open at one end, a cylindrical plunger slidably inserted into the plunger housing hole, and bias means for biasing the plunger in a protruding direction, and a rocking lever having a guide surface that comes into sliding contact with a traveling endless transmission member, a boss portion supported so as to be able to rock, and a pressing surface provided on a side of the rocking lever opposite to the guide surface.
2. Description of the Related Art
A tensioner and a swinging lever are conventionally commonly used to properly maintain the tension of an endless transmission member such as a traveling chain. For example, a chain guide mechanism for a timing system is well known in which a traveling guide shoe is used to slidably guide a transmission chain such as a roller chain endlessly passed between sprockets provided on a crank shaft and a cam shaft in an engine room and in which a tensioner is used to bias a rocking lever with the traveling guide shoe in order to properly maintain tension.
In the timing system for the engine, for example, as depicted in FIG. 7, a timing chain CH is endlessly passed between a driving sprocket S1 attached to a crank shaft in the engine room and a pair of driven sprockets S2 and S3 attached to a cam shaft in the engine room. The timing chain CH is guided by a rocking lever 550 and a fixed chain guide G2.
The fixed chain guide G2 is fixed in the engine room using two attachment shafts B1 and B2. The rocking lever 550 is attached to the inside of the engine room so as to be able to rock in a passage plane for the timing chain CH.
A chain tensioner 500 presses the rocking lever 550 to properly maintain the tension of the timing chain CH while suppressing vibration.
The well-known tensioner 500 used to press the rocking lever 550 includes a tensioner body 510 having a cylindrical plunger housing hole 511 that is open at one end, a cylindrical plunger 520 slidably inserted into the plunger housing hole 511, and bias means including a coil spring 530 that biases the plunger 520 in a protruding direction through the plunger housing hole 511, for example, as schematically depicted in FIG. 8.
Oil is fed into the plunger housing hole 511 to bias the plunger 520 in the protruding direction. As the plunger 520 makes reciprocating motion, the oil flows through a small gap between the plunger 520 and the plunger housing hole 511. The resultant channel resistance produces a damping effect that dampens the reciprocating motion of the plunger 520.
As depicted in FIG. 7, the well-known rocking lever 550 pressed against the tensioner 500 has a guide surface 551 that comes into sliding contact with the traveling timing chain CH, a boss portion 552 supported by an attachment shaft B0 so as to be able to rock, and a pressing surface 553 provided on a side of the rocking lever opposite to the guide surface 551.
In such a timing system, when the tensioner is assembled or removed for maintenance, the plunger needs to be fixed at a position to which the plunger is pushed back, so as not to protrude from the tensioner body.
Thus, a technique is known in which a body pin hole (pin through-hole 11b) is formed in a tensioner body (tensioner main body 11) and in which a stopper pin (S) is inserted through the body pin hole and locked in a ring-like pin locking groove (12b) formed in a plunger (12) to fix the plunger, for example, as depicted in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2001-153194.
However, in the technique described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2001-153194, since the body pin hole (pin through-hole 11b) is formed in the tensioner body (tensioner main body 11), the ring-like pin locking groove (12b) needs to be formed at a certain distance from a tip of the plunger (12). Thus, the volume of a space provided inside the plunger (12) is limited.
Furthermore, the stopper pin (S) is locked only along a length equal to the depth of the ring-like pin locking groove (12b) and thus a heavy load is placed on the stopper pin (S). Consequently, the stopper pin may be damaged or fall out, leading to abrupt protrusion of the plunger (12).
Meanwhile, a rocking lever is known in which, to position the plunger in a width direction of a pressing surface when a tip portion of the plunger comes into abutting contact with the pressing surface, lips protruding from the pressing surface are provided on opposite sides of the pressing surface in the width direction.
In particular, when an oil chamber is formed inside the plunger and oil is fed into the plunger through a side surface thereof, the plunger needs to be prevented from rotating so as to avoid changing the position of an oil feeding hole of the plunger in a circumferential direction. A technique is well known in which the tensioner itself has no locking mechanism and in which two parallel tip side surfaces are provided at a protruding end of the plunger such that the lips of the rocking lever are used for locking.
Such lips come into abutting contact with or come very close to the plunger protruding side of the tensioner body when the plunger lies at a position where the plunger is pushed back.
Thus, when the rocking lever with the lips is used, the body pin hole in the tensioner body needs to be located further away from the tip of the plunger, disadvantageously further limiting the volume of the space provided inside the plunger.


An apparatus and method for a navigation system including an information center and a mobile terminal is disclosed. The information center stores node image information on topographic features of a node. The node image information includes partial image information according to a direction of movement of the mobile terminal. The information center includes a database for storing a node message having the partial image information and a database for storing map data. The information center generates the node message for guiding the next node point whenever the mobile terminal reaches a node point, and transmits partial image information of the node image information corresponding to the direction of movement of the mobile terminal. The mobile terminal displays the image information of the node received at each node point and confirms a movement path.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus and a method for downloading and displaying an image signal. More particularly, the present invention relates to an apparatus and a method for downloading and displaying an image signal relating to position information in a geographic information system.
2. Description of the Related Art
Communication terminals provided with global positioning system (hereinafter, referred to as a GPS) equipments typically determine their position through signals received from the GPS. Further, navigation systems using the GPSs are new, and the use of such navigation systems is increasing. The navigation systems as described store map information in storage media such as compact discs (CDs). Further, when the navigation systems move, the GPSs confirm positions of the moving navigation systems and output the confirmed position information to the navigation systems. Then, the navigation systems display their moving positions on maps according to the received GPS information. Further, the navigation systems download map information and their position information from the GPS, and display their moving positions on the maps according to the received GPS information. Herein, the navigation systems may be navigators of vehicles or mobile communication terminals.
However, the navigation system as described displays its current position on a map shown on a plane, such as two-dimensional or simulated three-dimensional plane, on a display unit of the navigation system. Further, the conventional navigation systems display their own positions on planar maps by means of position information received from the GPS. Accordingly, it is difficult to accurately comprehend a panoramic view of an area in which the navigation system is located using such display methods.

Apparatus and method for downloading and displaying images relating to global positioning information in a navigation system


An array of dielectric resonator antenna elements (1), each element (1) being composed of a dielectric resonator disposed on a grounded substrate (3), a plurality of feeds (2) for transferring energy into and from the dielectric resonator elements (1), wherein the feeds (2) of each element (1) are activatable either individually or in combination so as to produce at least one incrementally or continuously steerable beam which may be steered through a predetermined angle. Both the element beam patterns generated by the individual elements (1) and the array factor generated by the array as a whole may be independently steered. When these are steered in synchronism, it is possible to improve the overall gain of the array in any particular direction.

The present invention relates to arrays of dielectric resonator antennas (DRAs) in which the patterns of the individual DRA elements may be electronically steered in synchronism with the array pattern.
Since the first systematic study of dielectric resonator antennas (DRAs) in 1983 [LONG, S. A., McALLISTER, M. W., and SHEN, L. C.: xe2x80x9cThe Resonant Cylindrical Dielectric Cavity Antennaxe2x80x9d, IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation, AP-31, 1983, pp 406-412], interest has grown in their radiation patterns because of their high radiation efficiency, good match to most commonly used transmission lines and small physical size [MONGIA, R. K. and BHARTIA, P.: xe2x80x9cDielectric Resonator Antennasxe2x80x94A Review and General Design Relations for Resonant Frequency and Bandwidthxe2x80x9d, International Journal of Microwave and Millimetre-Wave Computer-Aided Engineering, 1994, 4, (3), pp 230-247].
The majority of configurations reported to date have used a slab of dielectric material mounted on a ground plane excited by either an single aperture feed in the ground plane [ITTIPIBOON, A. MONGIA, R. K., ANTAR, Y. M. M., BHARTIA, P. and CUHACI, M: xe2x80x9cAperture Fed Rectangular and Triangular Dielectric Resonators for use as Magnetic Dipole Antennasxe2x80x9d, Electronics Letters, 1993, 29, (23), pp 2001-2002] or by a single probe inserted into the dielectric material [McALLISTER, M. W., LONG, S. A. and CONWAY G. L.: xe2x80x9cRectangular Dielectric Resonator Antennaxe2x80x9d, Electronics Letters, 1983, 19, (6), pp 218-219]. Direct excitation by a transmission line has also been reported by some authors [KRANENBURG, R. A. and LONG, S. A.: xe2x80x9cMicrostrip Transmission Line Excitation of Dielectric Resonator Antennasxe2x80x9d, Electronics Letters, 1994, 24, (18), pp 1156-1157].
The concept of using a series of these single feed DRAs to build an antenna array has already been explored. For example, an array of two cylindrical single-feed DRAs has been demonstrated [CHOW, K. Y., LEUNG. K. W., LUK, K. M. AND YUNG, E. K. N.: xe2x80x9cCylindrical dielectric resonator antenna arrayxe2x80x9d, Electronics Letters, 1995, 31, (18), pp 1536-1537] and then extended to a square matrix of four DRAs [LEUNG, K. W., LO, H. Y., LUK, K. M. AND YUNG, E. K. N.: xe2x80x9cTwo-dimensional cylindrical dielectric resonator antenna arrayxe2x80x9d, Electronics Letters, 1998, 34, (13), pp 1283-1285]. A square matrix of four cross DRAs has also been investigated [PETOSA, A., ITTIPIBOON, A. AND CUHACI. M.: xe2x80x9cArray of circular-polarized cross dielectric resonator antennasxe2x80x9d, Electronics Letters, 1996, 32, (19), pp 742-1743]. Long linear arrays of single-feed DRAs have also been investigated with feeding by either a dielectric waveguide [BIRAND, M. T. AND GELSTHORPE, R. V.: xe2x80x9cExperimental millimetric array using dielectric radiators fed by means of dielectric waveguidexe2x80x9d, Electronics Letters, 1983, 17, (18), pp 633-635] or a microstrip [PETOSA. A., MONGIA, R. K., ITTIPIBOON, A. AND WIGHT, J. S.: xe2x80x9cDesign of microstrip-fed series array of dielectric resonator antennasxe2x80x9d, Electronics Letters, 1995, 31, (16), pp 1306-1307]. This last research group have also found a method of improving the bandwidth of microstrip-fed DRA arrays [PETOSA, A., ITTIPIBOON, A., CUHACI, M. AND LAROSE, R.: xe2x80x9cBandwidth improvement for microstrip-fed series array of dielectric resonator antennasxe2x80x9d, Electronics Letters, 1996, 32, (7), pp 608-609]. It is important to note that none of these publications have discussed the concept of multi-feed DRAs or the concept of array element steering.
Earlier work by the present inventors [KINGSLEY, S. P. and O""KEEFE, S. G., xe2x80x9cBeam Steering and Monopulse Processing of Probe-Fed Dielectric Resonator Antennasxe2x80x9d, IEE Proceedingsxe2x80x94Radar, Sonar and Navigation, 146, 3, 121-125, 1999] shows how several spatially separated feeds can be used to drive a single circular slab of dielectric material so as to produce an antenna with several beams facing in different directions. The simultaneous excitation of several feeds means that the DRA can have electronic beamsteering and direction finding capabilities. This work is also disclosed in the present applicants U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/431,548 entitled xe2x80x9cSteerable-beam multiple-feed dielectric resonator antennaxe2x80x9d, the disclosure of which is incorporated into the present application by reference.
The present application extends the previous work of Kingsley and O""Keefe by considering the properties and benefits of arrays composed of many such multi-feed DRAs. A wide range of array geometries is considered.
An antenna array is a collection of (often evenly spaced) simple elements such as monopoles, dipoles, patches, etc. The arrangement of elements to form the array may be linear, 2-D, in a circle, etc. and the shape of 2-D arrays may be rectangular, circular, oval, etc. In an array, each individual element has a broad radiation pattern but when they are combined together, the array as a whole has a much narrower radiation pattern. More importantly, by feeding the elements with different phases or time delays, the array pattern can be steered electronically. This is a most useful facility in radar and communications.
It is important to distinguish between the various radiation patterns referred to in the present application. Firstly, each element of the array has its own notional radiation pattern when considered in isolation. This element pattern may be considered to be analogous to the diffraction pattern of one of the light sources in a Young""s slits interference demonstration. Secondly, the array as a whole has a notional radiation pattern, known as the array factor, which is the sum of the idealised isotropic element patterns, and which may be considered to be analogous to the interference pattern in a Young""s slits demonstration. Finally, the actual radiation pattern formed by the antenna array, known as the antenna pattern, is the product of the element patterns and the array factor. Each of the element pattern, array factor and antenna pattern may be considered to have a direction in which transmission/reception has a maximum gain, and embodiments of the present invention seek to steer these directions in useful ways.
The radiation patterns of the individual elements of an array are fixed so that when the array factor faces straight ahead (on boresight), the resultant antenna pattern has the benefit of the full gain of each individual element. In fact, the gain of the array is the sum of the gain of the elements. However, when the array factor is steered off boresight, the gain can fall because the array factor is moving outside the pattern of the individual elements. The only time this is not true is when the elements are omnidirectional in the plane of the array (such as monopoles), but as these are usually low gain elements there still remains a problem of low gain overall.
Embodiments of the present invention seek to provide an array of dielectric resonator antenna elements, where each element has several energy feeds connected in such a way that the radiation pattern of each element can be steered. One method of electronically steering an antenna element pattern is to have a number of existing beams and to switch between them or, alternatively, to combine them so as to achieve the desired beam direction. The general concept of deploying a plurality of probes within a single dielectric resonator antenna, as pertaining to a cylindrical geometry, is described in the paper KINGSLEY, S. P. and O""KEEFE, S. G., xe2x80x9cBeam Steering and Monopulse Processing of Probe-Fed Dielectric Resonator Antennasxe2x80x9d, IEE Proceedingsxe2x80x94Radar, Sonar and Navigation, 146, 3, 121-125, 1999, the disclosure of which is incorporated into the present application by reference.
It has been noted by the present applicants that the results described in the above reference apply equally to DRAs operating at any of a wide range of frequencies, for example from 1 MHz to 100,000 MHz and even higher for optical DRAs. The higher the frequency in question, the smaller the size of the DRA, but the general beam patterns achieved by the probe/aperture geometries described hereinafter remain generally the same throughout any given frequency range. Operation at frequencies substantially below 1 MHz is also possible, using dielectric materials with a high dielectric constant.
According to the present invention, there is provided an array of dielectric resonator antenna elements, each element being composed of at least one dielectric resonator and a plurality of feeds for transferring energy into and from the elements, wherein the feeds of each element are activatable either individually or in combination so as to produce at least one incrementally or continuously steerable element beam which may be steered through a predetermined angle, characterised in that, during operation of the array, the feeds of the elements are activated such that the element beams from the different elements are steered in synchrony with each other, and in that the element beams, when combined, interact so as to form at least one array beam which is steered in synchrony with the element beams.
The array may be provided with electronic circuitry adapted to activate the feeds either individually or in combination so as to produce at least one incrementally or continuously steerable beam which may be steered through a predetermined angle.
The array may additionally be provided with further electronic circuitry adapted to activate each of the antenna elements with a pre-determined phase shift or time delay so as to generate an array factor which may be steered through a predetermined angle. For example, for a given array factor direction (which here is the same as the antenna beam direction), each element may be fed with a different phase or time delay (and, in practice, a different amplitude) so that when the element patterns are added together, they give rise to an antenna pattern in a predetermined direction. For a different antenna beam direction, the phases and amplitudes of the element feeds will be different.
By providing an array of steerable DRAs, the present invention seeks to enable the individual element patterns to be steered in synchronism with the array factor as a whole, thereby forming an array having maximum or at least improved element gain for a given array factor direction.
The elements of the array may be arranged in a substantially linear formation, and may be arranged side by side so as to provide azimuth beamsteering or one on top of the other so as to provide elevation as well as azimuth beamsteering. The elements may or may not be evenly spaced, depending on requirements, and the linear array may be arranged so as to be conformal to a curved or distorted surface. This latter feature has potentially important implications in, for example, communications on aircraft. For example, by conforming a linear array of elements to the fuselage of an aircraft and by arranging for the element beam patterns all to face the same way regardless of the actual orientation of the elements on the fuselage, it is possible to match an array beam pattern with the element beam pattern so as to improve gain. Furthermore, a dielectric lens may be provided so as to improve control of azimuth and/or elevation beamsteering.
Alternatively, the elements of the array may be disposed in a ring-like formation, such as a circle, or may be disposed more generally in at least two dimensions across a surface. The elements may or may not be evenly spaced, and may, for example, be in the form of a regular lattice. As discussed above, the surface in which the elements are disposed may be conformed to a curved or distorted surface, such as the fuselage of an aircraft, and the elements may be individually controlled so that the element beam patterns all face the same way regardless of the individual physical orientations of the elements themselves. Furthermore, a dielectric lens may be provided so as to improve control of azimuth and/or elevation beamsteering
Alternatively, the elements of the array may be arranged as a three dimensional volumetric array, the array as a whole having an outer envelope in the form of a regular solid (e.g. sphere, tetrahedron, cube, octahedron, icosahedron or dodecahedron) or an irregular solid. The elements may or may not be evenly spaced, and may, for example, be in the form of a regular lattice. The volumetric array may be formed as a combination of linear and/or surface arrays stacked one on top of the other so as to allow both azimuth and elevation beamsteering. Furthermore, a dielectric lens may be provided so as to improve control of azimuth and/or elevation beamsteering.
Beamsteering in elevation is achieved by stacking the DRA elements on top of each other, or by forming a stack of DRA arrays, and by energising the elements appropriately. For example, in a vertical stack of cylindrical multi-probe elements, each element on its own can steer an element beam in azimuth, and it is possible to feed the probes so that all of the elements form element beams which face in the same direction. When combined, these element beams form a horizontal beam in the chosen direction which is smaller in elevation than the elevation pattern of a single element. By changing the phasing, for example, between the element feeds, it is possible to move the combined beam up and down in elevation. In a more complex system, there may be provided a vertical stack of linear element arrays.
Advantageously, the antenna array as a whole is adapted to produce at least one incrementally or continuously steerable beam, which may be steered through a complete 360 degree circle.
Advantageously, each individual element of the antenna array is also adapted to produce at least one incrementally or continuously steerable beam, which may be steered through a complete 360 degree circle.
Advantageously, there is additionally or alternatively provided electronic circuitry to combine the feeds of each individual element of the antenna array such that the element pattern is steered in angle in synchronism with the antenna array pattern.
Advantageously, there is additionally or alternatively provided electronic circuitry to provide at least two feeds to each individual element of the antenna array such that, when the array is used to form at least two array factors simultaneously, the elements are activatable so as to form at least two element beams simultaneously which are steerable in synchronism with the antenna pattern (which is the sum of the at least two array factors).
Generally, the at least two array factors together form an antenna pattern having two main lobes.
When a conventional antenna array is used to form at least two beams simultaneously, then at least two sets of phases and amplitudes for the elements must be combined by driving each element through one (or more) power splitter/combiners which are large, lossy devices. Embodiments of the present invention can achieve the same result by simply connecting one set of phases and amplitudes to one particular feed to each DRA element and another set of phases and amplitudes up a different feed to each element.
The feed to each element may include a cable, fibre optic connection, printed circuit track or any other transmission line technique, and these may be of predetermined different effective lengths so as to insert different time delays in the feed to each element, thus providing beamsteering control. The delays may be controlled and varied by controlling and varying the effective lengths of the transmission lines, either electrically, electronically or mechanically, for example by switching additional lengths of transmission line in and out of the base transmission lines.
Alternatively or in addition, beamsteering may be effected by individually adjusting the phase of the feed to each element, for example by including diode phase shifters, ferrite phase shifters or other types of phase shifters into the transmission lines. Additional control may be achieved by varying the amplitude of signals in the transmission lines, for example by including attenuators therein.
The feed mechanisms to the elements may incorporate a resistive beamforming matrix of phase shifters so as to insert different phase delays in the feed to each element. Alternatively or in addition, the feed mechanisms to the elements may incorporate a matrix of hybrids, such as a Butler matrix, so as to form a plurality of beams from a plurality of elements. A Butler matrix is a parallel RF beam-forming network that forms N contiguous beams from an N-element array. The network makes use of directional couplers, fixed phase differences and transmission lines. It is lossless apart from the insertion loss of these components. Other types of RF beamforming networks also exist.
Alternatively or in addition, xe2x80x9cweightingxe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9cwindowxe2x80x9d function may be applied electronically or otherwise to the feeds to the elements so as to control array factor sidelobes. Exciting all elements equally gives a uniform aperture distribution that results in high array factor sidelobe levels. Applying a window function, such that the elements towards the edge of the array contribute less to the array factor than those at the centre, can reduce these sidelobe levels.
Alternatively or in addition, an xe2x80x9cerrorxe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9ccorrectionxe2x80x9d function may be applied electronically or otherwise to the feeds of the elements so as to control embedded element, mutual coupling, surface wave and other perturbing effects. Simple array theory assumes that all the elements behave identically. However, those disposed toward the edge of an array may behave differently to those nearer the centre, because of the reasons given above. For example, an element at the centre experiences mutual coupling to the elements either side, but an element at the edge has no neighbour on one side. These error effects can be measured and corrected for by applying a correction factor.
Each element of the array may be connected to a single beamforming mechanism so as to produce a single array factor, or to a plurality of beamforming mechanisms so as simultaneously to produce a plurality of array factors.
The elements of the array may be disposed so as to permit various polarisations to be achieved, such as vertical, horizontal, circular or any other polarisation, including switchable or otherwise controllable polarisations. For example, MONGIA, R. K., ITTIPIBOON, A., CUHACI, M. and ROSCOE D.: xe2x80x9cCircular Polarised Dielectric Resonator Antennaxe2x80x9d, Electronics Letters, 1994, 30, (17), pp 1361-1362; and DROSSOS, G., WU, Z. and DAVIS, L. E.: xe2x80x9cCircular Polarised Cylindrical Dielectric Resonator Antennaxe2x80x9d, Electronics Letters, 1996, 32, (4), pp 281-283.3, 4, the disclosures of which are incorporated into the present application by reference, describe how two probes fed simultaneously in a circular cross-section dielectric slab and installed on radials at 90xc2x0 to each other can create circular polarisation when fed in anti-phase. Furthermore, DROSSOS, G., WU, Z. and DAVIS. L. E.: xe2x80x9cSwitchable Cylindrical Dielectric Resonator Antennaxe2x80x9d, Electronics Letters, 1996, 32, (10), pp 862-864, the disclosure of which is also incorporated into the present application by reference, describes how polarisation may be achieved by switching the probes on and off.
Advantageously, there is additionally or alternatively provided electronic circuitry or computer software such that when digital beamforming techniques are used, the feeds of each individual element of the antenna array are controlled in such a way that the element pattern is steered in angle in synchronism with the array factor.
When each element of the array is connected to a separate transmitter module, a separate receiver module or a separate transmitter/receiver module, then digital beamforming techniques may be used to form steerable array factors of any desired shape which are steerable both in azimuth as well as in elevation.
With a conventional array (analogue beamsteering), a single transmitter or receiver is distributed to each element with the appropriate phase and amplitude modifications along each path. With digital beamforming, each element has its own transmitter or receiver and is instructed by a computer to form the appropriate phase and amplitude settings. In the receiving case, each receiver has its own A/D converter, the outputs of which can be used to form almost any desired beam shape, many different beams simultaneously, or even be stored in the computer and the beams formed some time later.
Many such array factors may be formed simultaneously by digital beamforming techniques through appropriate electronic or software control. Such array factors may contain one or more nulls in order to cancel interference, multipath or other unwanted signals in given directions. Alternatively, the DRA element pattern may be arranged so as to cancel some or all of the unwanted signals. For example, where a digital beamforming array has N elements then it generally has Nxe2x88x921 degrees of freedom, and so may be able to null out jamming signals from Nxe2x88x921 different directions. In embodiments of the present invention, each DRA element may also have at least one null in its radiation pattern, and this may be used to null out jamming signals from at least one additional direction. Digitally beamformed array patterns may be formed on-line in real time or, in the case of recorded received data, off-line at a later time.
Preferably, the array pattern steering and the synchronous element pattern steering is carried out through a complete 360 degree circle.
In one embodiment of the present invention, the dielectric resonator elements may be divided into segments by conducting walls provided therein, as described, for example, in U.S. Ser. No. 09/431,548 and in more detail in the present applicant""s co-pending UK patent application no 0005766.1 filed on 11th Mar. 2000 and International patent application no PCT/GB01/00929, filed on 2nd Mar. 2001, both entitled xe2x80x9cMulti-segmented dielectric resonator antennaxe2x80x9d, the full disclosures of which are incorporated into the present application by reference.
In a further embodiment of the present invention, there may additionally be provided at least one internal or external monopole antenna or any other antenna possessing a circularly symmetrical pattern about a longitudinal axis, which is combined with at least one of the dielectric resonator antenna elements so as to cancel out backlobe fields or to resolve any front-to-back ambiguity which may occur with a dielectric resonator antenna having a cosine or figure-of-eight radiation pattern. The monopole or other circularly symmetrical antenna may be centrally disposed within the dielectric resonator element or may be mounted thereupon or therebelow and is activatable by the electronic circuitry. In embodiments including an annular resonator with a hollow centre, the monopole or other circularly symmetrical antenna may be located within the hollow centre. A xe2x80x9cvirtualxe2x80x9d monopole may also be formed by an electrical or algorithmic combination of any of the actual feeds, preferably a symmetrical set of feeds.
The dielectric elements or the dielectric resonators making up the elements may be formed of any suitable dielectric material, or a combination of different dielectric materials, having an overall positive dielectric constant k. Different elements or resonators may be made out of different materials having different dielectric constants k, or they may all be made out of the same material. Equally, the elements or resonators may all have the same physical shape or form, or may have different shapes or forms as appropriate. In preferred embodiments, k is at least 10 and may be at least 50 or even at least 100. k may even be very large e.g. greater than 1000, although available dielectric materials tend to limit such use to low frequencies. The dielectric material may include materials in liquid, solid, gaseous or plasma states, or any intermediate state. The dielectric material may be of lower dielectric constant than a surrounding material in which it is embedded.
The feeds may take the form of conductive probes which are contained within or placed against the dielectric resonators, or a combination thereof, or may comprise aperture feeds provided in a grounded substrate. Aperture feeds are discontinuities (generally rectangular in shape) in a grounded substrate underneath the dielectric material and are generally excited by passing a microstrip transmission line beneath them. The microstrip transmission line is usually printed on the underside of the substrate. Where the feeds take the form of probes, these may be generally elongate in form. Examples of useful probes include thin cylindrical wires which are generally parallel to a longitudinal axis of the dielectric resonator. Other probe shapes that might be used (and have been tested) include fat cylinders, non-circular cross sections, thin generally vertical plates and even thin generally vertical wires with conducting xe2x80x9chatsxe2x80x9d on top (like toadstools). Probes may also comprise metallised strips placed within or against the dielectric, or a combination thereof. In general, any conducting element within or against the dielectric resonator, or a combination thereof, will excite resonance if positioned, sized and fed correctly. The different probe shapes give rise to different bandwidths of resonance and may be disposed in various positions and orientations (at different distances along a radius from the centre and at different angles from the centre, as viewed from above) within or against the dielectric resonator or a combination thereof, so as to suit particular circumstances. Furthermore, there may be provided probes within or against the dielectric resonator, or a combination thereof, which are not connected to the electronic circuitry but instead take a passive role in influencing the transmit/receive characteristics of the dynamic resonator antenna, for example, by way of induction.
Generally, where the feed comprises a monopole feed, then the appropriate dielectric resonator element or dielectric resonator must be associated with a grounded substrate, for example by being disposed thereupon or separated therefrom by a small air gap or a layer of another dielectric material. Alternatively, where the feed comprises a dipole feed, then no grounded substrate is required. Embodiments of the present invention may use monopole feeds to dielectric elements or resonators associated with a grounded substrate, and/or dipole feeds to dielectric elements or resonators not having an associated grounded substrate. Both types of feed may be used in the same antenna.
Where a grounded substrate is provided, the dielectric resonators may be disposed directly on, next to or under the grounded substrate, or a small gap may be provided between the resonators and the grounded substrate. The gap may comprise an air gap, or may be filled with another dielectric material of solid, liquid or gaseous phase.
The antenna array of the present invention may be operated with a plurality of transmitters or receivers, the terms here being used to denote respectively a device acting as a source of electronic signals for transmission by way of the antenna array or a device acting to receive and process electronic signals communicated to the antenna array by way of electromagnetic radiation. The number of transmitters and/or receivers may or may not be equal to the number of elements being excited. For example, a separate transmitter and/or receiver may be connected to each element (i.e. one per element), or a single transmitter and/or receiver to a single element (i.e. a single transmitter and/or receiver is switched between elements). In a further example, a single transmitter and/or receiver may be (simultaneously) connected to a plurality of elements. By continuously varying the feed power between the elements, the beam and/or directional sensitivity of the antenna array may be continuously steered. A single transmitter and/or receiver may alternatively be connected to several non-adjacent elements. In yet another example, a single transmitter and/or receiver may be connected to several adjacent or non-adjacent elements in order to produce an increase in the generated or detected radiation pattern, or to allow the antenna array to radiate or receive in several directions simultaneously.
The array of elements may simply be surrounded by air or the like, or may be immersed in a dielectric medium having a permittivity between that of air and that of the elements themselves. In the latter case, the effective separation distance between the elements is reduced, and the dielectric medium can therefore be arranged to act as a dielectric lens. For example, if an array of any type is immersed in a dielectric medium having a relative permittivity Er, then the size of the array can be reduced by Er.
By seeking to provide an antenna array composed of a plurality of dielectric resonator elements, each capable of generating multiple beams which can be selected separately or formed simultaneously and combined in different ways at will, embodiments of the present invention may provide the following advantages:
i) By choosing to drive different probes or apertures, the antenna array and each array element can be made to transmit or receive in one of a number of preselected directions (in azimuth, for example). This has the advantage that the gain of the array is always maximised by having maximum element gain. With a conventional antenna array (composed of dipoles, for example), as the array factor is steered away from the straight ahead xe2x80x98boresightxe2x80x99 position, the gain begins to fall because the array factor is steered outside the element pattern. A conventional array of dipoles, for example, cannot be steered through 360 degrees in the plane of the dipoles because at some point, usually at a steering angle of 90 degrees, the array factor falls into a null of the element pattern.
ii) By sequentially switching round the element feeds, and simultaneously switching round the array beam pattern, the resultant antenna radiation pattern can be made to rotate incrementally in angle. Such beam-steering has obvious applications for radio communications, radar and navigation systems.
iii) By combining two or more feeds simultaneously, element beams can be formed in any arbitrary azimuth direction to match an array factor formed in any arbitrary direction, thus giving more precise control over the beamforming process whilst maintaining improved or maximum antenna gain.
iv) By electronically continuously varying the power division/combination of two or more feeds simultaneously, element beams can be steered continuously in synchronism with an array factor that is being steered continuously.
v) When at least two beams in different directions are formed simultaneously with the array, then the plurality of feeds in the antenna elements can be so disposed as to form more than one beam at once to match the array factor.
vi) The addition of an internal or external monopole antenna or other antenna possessing a circularly symmetrical radiation pattern about a longitudinal axis can be used to cancel or reduce a backlobe of the antenna array, thereby resolving any front-to-back ambiguity in, for example, a linear array.

Dielectric resonator antenna array with steerable elements


A method, system, and computer program product, including generating a contrastive explanation for a decision of a classifier trained on structured data, highlighting an important feature that justifies the decision, and determining a minimal set of new values for features that alter the decision.

The present invention relates generally to a model agnostic contrastive explanations method, and more particularly, but not by way of limitation, to a system, method, and recording medium for a model agnostic contrastive explanations method (MACEM) to generate contrastive explanations for any classification model assuming only oracle access (i.e., one is able to only query the class probabilities for a desired input).
Given the widespread use of deep networks across various applications and their black box nature, explainability in artificial intelligence (XAI) has been one of the problems at the forefront in Artificial intelligence (AI) research.
Government agencies call for creating interpretable solutions and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) passed in Europe, which requires businesses to provide understandable justifications to their users for decisions that may affect them, has made this need even more acute.
Contrastive explanations are a rich form of explanation where one conveys not only what is (minimally) sufficient to justify the class of an input (i.e., pertinent positives (PPs)), but also what should be (minimally) necessarily absent to maintain the original classification (i.e., pertinent negatives (PNs)).
Conventionally, there have been many (post hoc) interpretability methods proposed to interpret decisions of neural networks that each assume complete access to the model. Locally-interpretable model-agnostic explanation method (LIME) is amongst the few that can provide local explanations for any model with just oracle access. In other words, LIME just needs to be able to query the classification model and based on its outputs can generate an explanation. This is an extremely attractive feature as it can be used in settings where the model owner may not want to expose the inner details of the model, but may desire local explanations using, for example, a remote service. Another application is that the method can be used to interpret decisions not just of neural networks, but also other models such as random forests, boosted trees and ensembles of heterogeneous models, which are known to perform quite well in many domains that use structured data.
However, even still, there is a need in the art for a model agnostic contrastive explanations method (MACEM) that requires only oracle access to the classification model with particular focus on structured data. Indeed, structured data can be composed of real and categorical features, and there is a need to provide a principled way of creating contrastive explanations for such data.
Conventional methods are restricted to differentiable models such as deep neural networks and strong (implicit) assumptions were made in terms of the semantics of the data used to train the models and obtain explanations. In particular, complete access to a model is assumed in prior techniques. Moreover, in the conventional techniques, a value of '0' for a feature was considered as the base value, with positive deviation from it being indicative of more interesting values or values that have more signal (i.e., strength). However, this may not be the case for many features especially those that are categorical. Ideally, the user should provide these values. However, in many situations this may not be the case. Also, in the conventional techniques all features were considered to be real valued and no special consideration was given to handle categorical features.

Model agnostic contrastive explanations for structured data

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION


An interferometric fiber-optic gyro system includes a light source and a plurality of optical fiber rings employed to measure angular displacement along three axes. Optical circuit elements interposed between the source and the rings include an optical switch for periodically applying the optical signal to each of the rings individually along three separate optical transmission paths. Included in each of the optical transmission paths is a modal filter, including a polarizer, and a beam splitter which provides two separate beams to the optical ring for counter-propagation through the ring. Compensating birefringent devices are added in the optical circuits to compensate for a residual birefringence introduced by the various optical elements in the circuits. The characteristics of the compensating devices consist of predetermined lengths of polarization preserving, single-mode optical fiber. The birefringence of each of the optical devices is characterized in terms of a total number of beat lengths. A plus or minus sign is assigned to the value of the beat lengths, depending upon the optical axis of the optical device being measured. The birefringent compensating optical fiber is selected so as to cancel the net birefringent effect of the other optical elements in the optical circuit expressed in beat length. The compensating fiber may be distributed in the optical circuit subject to the requirement that each section of optical fiber has an minimum length to assure single-mode transmission.

1. Technical Field
The invention relates to optical gyros and more particularly to a method and apparatus for compensating for residual birefringence in interferometric fiber-optic gyros.
2. Background Art
Interferometric fiber-optic gyros used for sensing rate of rotation in aircraft and missile navigation applications are well known. One prior art passive ring, fiber-optic gyro arrangement, which senses rate of rotation about various axes, is described in detail in U.S. Pat. No. 4,828,389 to Gubbins et al., issued May 9, 1989. Such gyros typically include an optical signal source, a beam splitter, a phase modulator and a closed optical fiber ring. The beam splitter divides the light from the source into two beams of equal intensity which travel around the fiber-optic ring, one in the clockwise direction and the other in the counterclockwise direction resulting in two interfering, counter-propagating waves. As the beams emerge from the fiber-optic ring, they are recombined at the beam splitter and routed to an optical detector. The physical length of the clockwise path is identical to that of the counterclockwise path, and absent certain disturbances, the two beams are in phase when they are recombined, and maximum-intensity light is detected at the photodetector.
There are two types of disturbances that can give rise to phase shifts in the light waves, namely, those resulting in reciprocal phase shifts and those resulting in nonreciprocal phase shifts. A reciprocal phase shift occurs when the two light waves are affected by a disturbance in the same manner, and a nonreciprocal phase shift occurs when the disturbance affects one of the counter-propagating waves in a different fashion than the other. It is known, for example, that a nonreciprocal phase shift results from the rotation of the closed optical path, causing the counter-propagating light waves to require different amounts of time to complete a transit of the closed path. This phase shift is known as the Sagnac effect phase shift and provides an indication of angular displacement of the gyro. The use and measurement of the Sagnac effect in optical rate sensors is well known and described, for example, in the text entitled "Fiber-Optic Rotation Sensors and Related Technologies," Springer-Verlag 1982.
The intensity of light resulting from recombined, interfering, counter-propagating light waves may be expressed in terms of the trigonometric cosine waveform. When the phase difference between the counter-propagating waves is close to zero, the cosine function varies only slightly with changes in phase difference, and measurement of the phase shift is made difficult. The measurement of phase shift may be improved by introducing a nonreciprocal phase bias such as .pi./2 radians. The induced phase shift causes the intensity signal to be shifted to a more linear portion of the cosine signal curve in order to provide more accurate measurements of the Sagnac effect phase shift.
Because the light beam produced by the source is not always well polarized, two modes of polarization tend to be produced at the source and both can be propagated in the fiber-optic ring as counter-propagating waves. A difficulty is that the two modes of polarization do not propagate with the same velocity nor do they propagate with perfect independence, and coupling between the modes tends to occur. As a result, the detection of the Sagnac effect phase shift is made more difficult. It is well known to add a polarizer filter in the light path in order to enforce polarization in one direction. This technique works in principle if the light exiting the polarizer is highly polarized and the other optical components of the system do not repolarize the light beam. In practice, however, there exist various anisotropic influences in the optical ring and other optical devices, including polarizers, causing birefringence and modifying the state of polarization of the light. As a result, degenerate orthogonal modes of polarization tend to be propagated in the gyro fiber-optic ring, leading to inaccuracies at the detector and an output signal with excessive bias error. This general problem is well understood by those skilled in the art and referenced, for example, by Rashleigh and Stolen in "Preservation of Polarization in Single-Mode Fibers," Fiber-Optic Technology, pp. 155-161 May 1983.
Bias error resulting from birefringence of an optical device may be defined in terms of the amplitude extinction ratio (e) for that device and the gyro Sagnac scale factor K.sub.s as follows: ##EQU1## A typical value for K.sub.s is 5.mu. rad/degree/hour. Thus, for an acceptable bias error of 0.5 degrees/hour, the value of extinction ratio e has to be 3.5.times.10.sup.-6. Extinction ratios of this magnitude are generally considered to be unattainable or at least well beyond the current measurement capability. As a point of reference, the above-noted value corresponds to an extinction ratio expressed in terms of decibels of power is equivalent to -109 dB, which is not measurable with known measuring techniques. Currently available optical polarizers have extinction ratios in the -60 to -65 dB range.
The above-described birefringence problem can be alleviated to some extent by using a special Polarization Preserving Single-Mode Optical Fiber (PPSMOF). For a typical fiber ring having a length of 500 meters and using a good quality PPSMOF, it can be shown that a polarizer having an extinction ratio of -76 dB is needed in order to compensate for birefringence in the optical gyro with a bias error of 0.5 degrees per hour. The fabrication of a polarizer with such a low extinction ratio is difficult and costly to fabricate and 500 meters of good quality PPSMOF is also difficult to obtain and costly.
To improve the efficiency of the polarizer, it is well known to insert a depolarizer between the optical source and the polarizing filter. The effect of the depolarizer is to shift one of the degenerate polarization modes of the source signal in time, so that it is incoherent with respect to the other polarization mode. If the light beam is split into two independent beams traversing the gyro optical ring and the two independent beams are recombined, theoretically, there should be no measurable interference since the interference peak of the undesired polarization state is shifted beyond the coherence length of the desired mode. The use of a depolarizer, such as the well-known fiber Lyot depolarizer, tends to further reduce the extinction ratio requirement of the polarizer.
Typically, optical gyro systems include additional optical elements such as beam splitters/recombiners and optical couplers, all of which are inherently birefringent. Consequently, optical signals propagated in the optical circuits will be repolarized to some extent by each of these devices. The repolarization due to the birefringence of these circuit devices affects the bias error of the gyro.
It is an object of this invention to provide an interferometric fiber-optic gyro having low bias error and in which the effects of birefringence are minimized.

Method and apparatus for compensating for the residual birefringence in interferometric fiber-optic gyros

Smiths Industries Aerospace & Defense Systems, Inc.


The present disclosure relates generally to facilitating routing of communications. More specifically, techniques are provided to dynamically routing messages having multiple intents between bots and terminal devices during communication sessions configured with multi-channel capabilities.

Presently available bots may operate from a model. Although the model may be updated over time, bot errors, failures, or other operational breakdowns may nevertheless occur. As such, businesses may employ human agents to take over from such bot failures in order to meet customer needs and expectations. Requiring human agents to take over various tasks may be time-intensive, however, and the bots may continue to break down until the model is updated at some point in time. There is, therefore, a need in the art for improved methods and systems for supervising bot operation and training.


This disclosure is directed to an optic having a composited MgO—MgF2 infrared anti-reflective coating that is suitable for use in LWIR, MWIR and SWIR ranges, and is particularly suitable for use in the LWIR range. The coated optic disclosed herein passes the severe abrasion test with a barring force between 2 pounds and 2.5 pounds. The MgO—MgF2 infrared anti-reflective coating has a thickness in the range of 500 nm to 1500 nm and a reflectance value Rx at 12° of less than 2% in the wavelength range of 7.25 nm to 11.75 nm.

The demands of aerospace and defense has been one of the main driving forces for fast development of infrared (IR) optics, in particular for infrared optics that will operate in a short-wave infrared range (SWIR) of 1-3 μm, a middle-wave infrared range (MWIR) 3-5 μm, and long-wave infrared range (LWIR) of 8-14 μm. The materials that can be used for the LWIR region are limited because the most frequently materials that are used are oxide materials and they are not transparent in the LWIR spectral regime. Germanium (Ge), zinc-selenide (ZnSe) and zinc-sulfide (ZnS) are the most popular optical window materials for use in the LWIR regime, these materials having a transmittance of 47%, 71% and 75%, respectively. An additional consideration of importance is that the IR optic made of the foregoing materials may be exposed to severe environmental condition for various applications. Consequently, environmentally durable antireflection (AR) coatings are necessary for LWIR optics applications.
The optical performance of an AR coating is dominated by the refractive index of outermost layer. A low refractive index of the outermost layer enables one to achieve a broadband AR coating. However, coating durability and environmental stability are mainly affected by the outermost layer in optical coatings. As a result, the material property of the outermost layer plays a critical role not only in optical performance, but also in mechanical strength and environmental stability. An IR-AR coating from 7.7μ to 10.3μ has been established where ytterbium fluoride (YbF3) is used as the outermost layer. There are IR-AR coatings in current use that pass the both the optical specification and a moderate abrasion test with a minimum bearing force of 1 pound. However, recently it has been indicated that a severe abrasion test will be required for future LWIR AR coated products. The existing AR coating, however, could not pass the severe abrasion test with a barring force between 2 and 2.5 lbs (MIL-C-48497A). Consequently, there is a need for a low refractive index coating material with durable mechanical property to ensure both a broadband antireflection spectral performance and to withstand the severe abrasion test. At the present time there are no optical AR coatings that give satisfactory performance, transmission, including abrasion resistance, in all of (1) a short-wave infrared range (SWIR) of 1-3 μm, (2) a middle-wave infrared range (MWIR) 3-5 μm, and (3) a long-wave infrared range (LWIR) of 8-14 μm.

Durable MgO—MgF2 composite film for infrared anti-reflection coatings


A substrate processing apparatus and an information storage server are connected with each other through a network. A storage part of the substrate processing apparatus stores set information and a control program, for controlling operation of the substrate processing apparatus according to the set information and the control program. The substrate processing apparatus is provided with a schedule function, for transmitting a backup instructional command according to the schedule. In response to this instructional command, the substrate processing apparatus generates a duplicate of specified information stored in the aforementioned storage part and transfers the duplicate information to the information storage server through the network. The information storage server stores the received duplicate information in a hard disk as backup data. The information storage server can also store only differential data of the duplicate information. Thus, information for controlling the operation of the substrate processing apparatus can be efficiently backed up without burdening the user.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a network communication technique connecting a substrate processing apparatus performing prescribed processing on a semiconductor substrate, a glass substrate for a liquid crystal display, a glass substrate for a photomask or a substrate for an optical disk (hereinafter simply referred to as "substrate") and a computer with each other through a network.
2. Description of the Background Art
A product such as a semiconductor device or a liquid crystal display is manufactured by performing a series of processing such as cleaning, resist coating, exposure, development, etching, formation of an interlayer dielectric film and thermal processing on a substrate. In general, a substrate processing apparatus having a built-in resist coating processing, a built-in development processing unit etc. performs such processing. A transfer robot provided on the substrate processing apparatus successively transfers the substrate to the respective processing units thereby performing the series of processing on the substrate.
Such substrate processing is automatically controlled, and the substrate processing apparatus stores application program data, set information etc. for the automatic control. In other words, the substrate processing apparatus is controlled through the application program according to the contents of the set information.
The set information stored in the substrate processing apparatus includes basic information employed in common for the substrate processing apparatus and information intrinsic to the substrate processing apparatus. While the substrate processing apparatus is essentially controllable by basic information set by default, optimum control cannot be performed with the same set contents due to the set environment or a manufacturing error of the substrate processing apparatus. Therefore, the basic information must be corrected for performing control, and each substrate processing apparatus accumulates this corrected information as intrinsic information.
Therefore, the intrinsic information is information intrinsic to every user and every substrate processing apparatus. In order to return a substrate processing apparatus causing some fault such as a hardware fault and losing accumulated information to the state before the occurrence of the fault, therefore, it is necessary to periodically back up the set information. Also when the user changes the set information in a self-determined manner, past set information may be required. Also in order to operate the substrate processing apparatus with the past set information in this case, it is necessary to periodically back up the set information. In general, the user backs up the set information in a removal disk or the like in each substrate processing apparatus.
However, it is extremely time-consuming to back up the set information of the substrate processing apparatus in the removal disk or the like, leading to a burden on the user. Particularly when a large number of substrate processing apparatuses are set, the backup operation remarkably burdens the user, who in turn awaits improvement.
Further, it is necessary to minimize the interval for backup processing so that the backup data is effective. However, the burden of the backup processing is so heavy that it is impractical to require the user to frequently perform periodic backup processing.
The aforementioned basic information, set in the substrate processing apparatus in an initial stage, consists of an extremely large number of set items. The user or a support staff first sets the basic information in the substrate processing apparatus, thereby operating the substrate processing apparatus according to the basic information. The user further sets intrinsic information in response to the individual substrate processing apparatus. In other words, the user corrects the operation of the substrate processing apparatus set according to the basic information with the intrinsic information thereby performing optimum control.
As hereinabove described, the basic information to be set in the substrate processing apparatus consists of an extremely large number of set items. If the set information is erroneous as to some of the large number of items, the substrate processing apparatus cannot perform planned operation.
When a plurality of staff set basic information in different substrate processing apparatuses respectively in a factory provided with a plurality of substrate processing apparatuses, for example, the set contents of the basic information may vary with the substrate processing apparatuses due to artificial errors. In this case, the same products cannot be produced even if the substrate processing apparatuses execute the same processing.
Also when it is proved that the basic information set in each substrate processing apparatus includes a set error from the results of operation of the substrate processing apparatus, it is extremely difficult to find the erroneous set contents from the large number of set items.
Components forming the aforementioned substrate processing apparatus also include consumables. For example, cleaning brushes provided in a cleaning processing unit for cleaning substrates or lamps provided in a lamp annealing apparatus for rapidly annealing substrates by photoirradiation are typical consumables. Further, belts, cylinders, motors etc. forming a driving mechanism for driving the transfer robot or the like are also consumables.
Such consumables consumed and deteriorated as used become unusable upon remarkable consumption, and hence it is necessary to periodically order new components for exchanging for the consumables.
In general, however, the new components are ordered and procured after the consumables are consumed or broken, and hence it follows that constant time is required up to arrival of the new components to disadvantageously reduce the working efficiency of the apparatus. While it is therefore preferable to manage the lives of the consumables in the substrate processing apparatus, a plurality of substrate processing apparatuses are arranged in a single substrate processing factory and remarkable labor is required for managing consumables in all substrate processing apparatuses.
In general, further, a large number of such substrate processing apparatuses are arranged in a single substrate processing factory manufacturing semiconductor devices or the like and operated by a number of operators. Therefore, it is necessary to properly educate experienceless unskilled operators as to the method of manipulating the apparatuses. When specifications etc. of the apparatuses are changed, it is also necessary to lecture skilled operators about the new operating method.
In general, the operators must divide into groups for attending a lecture about the apparatuses repetitively delivered for the groups or gather around only a single substrate processing apparatus for getting a collective explanation thereof.
In this case, however, the lecture must be repeated as to the same contents or not all operators can be sufficiently trained, disadvantageously leading to inefficiency for both users and vendors of the substrate processing apparatuses.

Substrate processing system managing apparatus information of substrate processing apparatus


A detailed data storage apparatus creates, when a detailed data database that stores therein detailed data relatint to each stage of a process executed through multiple stages receives detailed data relating to a predetermined stage, forecast detailed data indicating contents predicted for a stage next to a predetermined stage and subsequent stages from the detailed data, and stores the forecast detailed data in the detailed data database. The apparatus includes an order holding unit that orders and holds the multiple stages; a determining unit that determines whether there is a stage immediately previous to the predetermined stage; and an offset detailed-data creating unit that creates offset detailed data including a content for offsetting the forecast detailed data created at the immediately previous stage when the determining unit determines that there is the immediately previous stage, so as to store the offset detailed data in the detailed data database.

Conventionally, use of a data warehouse (DWH) has attracted attention as means for adjusting "detailed data" to business analysis of various purposes. Here, "detailed data" is data which is input to a core system, and includes information on minor details, such as a detailed statement or slip. Generally, the analysis of detailed data by using a data warehouse is realized by: a source database which stores therein detailed data of an individual system such as a core system; a data warehouse which aggregates and stores therein the detailed data stored in a plurality of source databases; a data mart which stores therein an aggregate result obtained by aggregating the detailed data stored in the data warehouse for a desired analysis purpose; and a front-end application for analyzing the aggregate result stored in the data mart.
Here, the aggregation of the detailed data means that pieces of detailed data in different systems are aggregated. Therefore, consistency between different systems is generally ensured by using a tool referred to as an Extract Transform Load (ETL) tool. Specifically explaining, for example, the ETL tool ensures the consistency between different systems by adjusting inconsistency between descriptions of "22-345, 1-chome" and description of "1-22-345". For example, according to a method disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2005-174018, when a developer designs a plurality of input and output programs (programs including input data, process, and output data), a system management apparatus registers a relation between the input data and the output data in a database for each program, displays a registration result on a screen so that the developer can confirm whether there is no overlapping processes, thereby ensuring the consistency between different systems.
In the conventional technique, however, there is a problem that inconsistency of detailed data between stages in a process executed through multiple stages may not be avoided as explained below.
That is, the ETL tool ensures the consistency between different systems when a code system, attribute, and description of the detailed data are different for each system, however, it cannot ensure the consistency of the detailed data between stages in the process executed through multiple stages. The method disclosed in Patent Document 1 can only display a relation between input data and output data on a screen, and correction thereafter is performed manually by a developer. Accordingly, the above problem is not solved.