An improved integrated circuit package including a heat sink and an improved method for making the package is disclosed. The package incorporates an improved sealing (or locking) ring located circumferentially around the heat sink to provide a better seal between the encapsulant and heat sink and to reduce the possibility that contaminants from outside the package will reach the interior semiconductor die. A stress relief section is formed in the package leads and a dielectric adhesive material is used to attach the package leads to a heat sink surface. The dielectric adhesive creates a secure bond between leads and heat sink, allows heat transfer from the leads to the heat sink, and prevents shorting of the leads to the heat sink. An improved method for making the package involves creating a dimensional mismatch between the thickness of the heat sink and a corresponding dimension of the mold cavity so as to provide a tighter seal between a heat sink surface that will be exposed to the exterior of the finished package and the mold cavity during the encapsulation process to prevent encapsulant from forming on the exposed heat sink surface. Stresses in the leadframe created during encapsulation are mitigated by the stress relief section in the leads.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to electronic device packaging and, in particular, to packaging for integrated circuit devices, hybrid circuits, or modules containing more than one integrated circuit chip. More particularly, the invention relates to plastic encapsulated integrated circuits in packages having leads extending from two or more package sides and incorporating an integral heat sink with an exposed outer surface.
2. Prior Art
During the early developmental stages of semiconductor packaging, the integrated circuit was typically packaged either in a metal can or between a ceramic lid and base. Both packaging materials provided excellent thermal properties, but each also necessitated expensive and time consuming packaging techniques. For example, in ceramic packages the use of two ceramic substrates reflected a sizeable percentage of the total cost of manufacturing the component.
As semiconductor production volumes grew, more cost effective packages were developed. The most notable was the plastic molded package. Although the plastic package provided significant cost savings, the advantageous thermal properties present with metal or ceramic were lacking. As integrated circuit speed and density increased, the need for improved thermal performance (i.e., improved dissipation of heat) became more important. This need motivated the inclusion of a metallic heat sink within the package to remove heat without compromising the reliability of the package because of its mechanical design and the associated assembly process.
Several attempts to improve heat dissipation have been made, the most common being incorporation of a heat sink or spreader into the package. Chu, U.S. Pat. No. 4,975,761, describes several types of heat sinks which are included inside the package. However, these methods do not provide the level of heat dissipation required by newer generations of integrated circuit assemblies.
Additionally, studies have been made of methods of bringing the surface of the heat sink to the outer edge of the package, thereby greatly reducing the thermal resistance. These attempts have been unsuccessful due to various manufacturing difficulties.
In one method, plastic molded packaging of an integrated circuit with heat sink is done by placing the assembly to be packaged in a mold cavity such that the side of the heat sink to which the semiconductor die has been attached faces into the mold cavity. The assembly is restrained by pins or a clamping mechanism attached to the leadframe assembly outside the mold cavity. The opposite side of the heat sink (the outer surface) remains exposed in the completed package. A surface of the mold cavity is brought into contact with the outer surface of the heat sink. Encapsulant is injected into the mold cavity until the cavity is full. When the encapsulant cools and solidifies, the mold cavity is opened and the completed package removed. Several problems have been encountered with this technique.
Current semiconductor package mold tooling design and manufacturing techniques have produced an insufficiently tight seal between the outer surface of the heat sink and the mold cavity. As a result, the high pressures present within the mold cavity during the encapsulation process, as well as dimensional variations from piece to piece between particular heat sinks, can result in separation between the surfaces of the heat sink and the mold cavity. This inadequate sealing allows either encapsulant bleed or flash formation on the exposed heat sink surface. Bleed is the undesirable presence of translucent encapsulant and flash is the undesirable presence of encapsulant greater in thickness than bleed and visible to the naked eye. To remedy this problem, methods were investigated which relied either on specialized mold tooling and techniques to improve the seal between the heat sink and the mold cavity during the encapsulation process, or on expensive hand flash removal after the encapsulation process is complete. Both of these remedies result in inconsistent quality and low yields.
In one method, a vacuum is pulled across the face of the heat sink, holding the heat sink against the mold cavity surface. However, if the seal is insufficiently tight, or if the outer surface of the heat sink is insufficiently flat, plastic encapsulant is sucked into the vacuum mechanism. If this happens, a difficult and expensive clean-up of the vacuum system is required, and bleed or flash results on the surface of the heat sink.
In another method, pneumatically actuated clamping pins contact the face of the heat sink facing into the mold cavity and force the face of the heat sink facing out of the mold cavity against the abutting surface of the mold cavity. However, this method requires sophisticated pin extraction techniques. These techniques are necessary to avoid interference between the pins and bonding wires or internal package leads as the pins are removed, and to avoid marring the surface of the heat sink or having the pins become stuck during retraction.
Another method involves clamping on leadframe members (the leadframe being attached to at least one side of a heat sink "paddle," another side of the paddle protruding and restrained outside of the mold cavity) external to the mold cavity and applying force to these members to push the heat sink against the mold cavity. This method is inapplicable, however, to packages with leads on four sides of the package.
All of the above techniques continue to produce various levels of encapsulant bleed and flash across the exposed surface of the heat sink. This unwanted plastic necessitates extensive and expensive cleaning of the exposed surface prior to subsequent processing operations. It also causes inferior heat dissipation.
A second problem has been encountered with plastic molded integrated circuit packages formed with a heat sink. Heat sinks in transistor package designs are known to allow various quantities of contaminants to migrate from sources outside the package to the surface of the semiconductor die and, specifically, to the bonding pads. Contaminants pass along the interface between the heat sink and the molded plastic due to the lack of an adequate seal. Penetration of the package interior results from the inability to lock the molded plastic securely to the heat sink. Though contaminants may also pass along the interface between leadframe and molded plastic, and some prior art has addressed that problem (e.g., Lehner, U.S. Pat. No. 3,564,352), the major source of contamination of the die in plastic packages with heat sinks is the open path presented by the interface between the heat sink and the molded plastic.
Some solutions to this problem, such as the use of a moisture moat, have proven to be marginally adequate remedies for older generations of less sensitive integrated circuits. However, for newer integrated circuits, these solutions are inadequate.
Other approaches have incorporated locking tabs on the sides of the heat sink. Though adequate for preventing other problems relating to transistor style packages (such as TO-220), these locking tabs are inadequate to seal out levels of moisture to which current generations of integrated circuits are sensitive.
A third problem that has been in plastic molded integrated circuit packages formed with a heat sink concerns the connections between the semiconductor die, leadframe and heat sink. Typically, these connections have been made by affixing the heat sink and semiconductor die to opposing surfaces of a leadframe die mounting paddle as shown in FIG. 6a. To enable heat transfer away from the semiconductor die, a thermally conductive adhesive is applied to paddle surfaces contacting the heat sink and die. Heat is then transferred from the semiconductor die through the first layer of adhesive to the die mounting paddle. From the die mounting paddle the heat is transferred through the second layer of adhesive, through the heat sink and then through the remaining bulk plastic material. Severe limitations have been encountered in using this technique for more thermally sensitive semiconductor designs due to the inability of the package to dissipate increased amounts of heat. Although attempts have been made to enhance the thermal flow from the die to the heat sink through the use of materials with improved thermal conductivities, the necessity for the heat to pass through the die mounting paddle and additional adhesive layer before reaching the heat sink continues to constitute a thermal bottleneck.
The connection between the leads and the heat sink presents an additional problem. The adhesive between the heat sink and leads must be electrically insulative in order to prevent shorting between the two. If this adhesive does not completely fill the space between the heat sink and leads, then undesirable electrical conduction between the heat sink and leads may occur.

Method for forming plastic molded package with heat sink for integrated circuit devices


The present invention provides for an adapter that is used to attach an animal call, such as a turkey call, to a shotgun or rifle in a manner that allows the hunter to activate the call to lure the quarry into closer range without ever taking the game out of the firearm's sight. The adapter is specifically designed to accommodate a wide variety of animal call shapes and sizes. Additionally, the adapter is designed to be completely assembled and adjusted for proper alignment in the field without the use of any hand tools.

A variety of adapters have been known and used to attach various devices to a firearm. Particularly, U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,236,947; 2,416,769; 3,062,114; 3,678,590; 3,739,167; 4,152,754; 4,233,770; 4,290,219; 4,291,479; 4,309,095; 4,533,980; and 4,542,447 all disclose devices such as lights, cameras, and illuminated sights that are attached to a firearm. None of these adapters, however, relate to mounting an animal caller, such as a turkey call, to a firearm. In the wild, in the heat of the hunt, the hunter is often in the position of being unable to make an animal call and quickly adjust to take aim once the animal is lured in the hunter's direction. Previously, the hunter was required to make the call, put the call down, pick up the animal in his sights, often within a few seconds. It would be desirable, therefore, to provide for an adapter that could be used to mount an animal call to a firearm in such a manner that the hunter can activate the call without ever taking the quarry out of the sight of the firearm.

Adapter for attaching an animal call to a firearm


An apparatus for manufacturing a liquid crystal display includes a unitary vacuum processing chamber having a substrate entrance, a loader part to load first and second substrates through the substrate entrance, one of the first and second substrates having a liquid crystal material disposed thereupon, upper and lower stages disposed within the vacuum processing chamber for affixing the first and second substrates, a stage moving system for providing relative movement between the upper and lower stages, and a vacuum generating system for evacuating an interior of the vacuum processing chamber.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a manufacturing apparatus and method, and more particularly, to an apparatus and method for manufacturing a liquid crystal display device suitable for a large-sized liquid crystal display.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
In general, recent developments in the information communication field have increased demand for various types of displays devices. In response to this demand, various flat panel type displays such as liquid crystal display (LCD), plasma display panel (PDP), electro-luminescent display (ELD), and vacuum fluorescent display (VFD) have been developed to replace conventional cathode ray tube (CRT) devices. In particular, LCD devices have been used because of their high resolution, light weight, thin profile, and low power consumption. In addition, LCD devices have been implemented in mobile devices such as monitors for notebook computers. Furthermore, LCD devices have been developed for monitors of computer and television to receive and display broadcasting signals.
Accordingly, efforts to improve image quality of LCD devices contrast with the benefits of high resolution, light weight, thin profile, and low power consumption. In order to incorporate LCD devices as a general image display, image quality such as fineness, brightness, large-sized area, for example, must be realized.
A plurality of gate lines are formed along one direction at fixed intervals on the first glass substrate (TFT array substrate), and a plurality of data lines are formed along a second direction perpendicular to one direction of the plurality of gate lines, thereby defining a plurality of pixel regions. Then, a plurality of pixel electrodes are formed in a matrix arrangement at the pixel regions, and a plurality of thin film transistors (TFT) are formed at the pixel regions. Accordingly, the plurality of thin film transistors are switched by signals transmitted along the gate lines and transfer signals transmitted along the data lines to each pixel electrode. In order to prevent light leakage, black matrix films are formed on the second glass substrate (color filter substrate) except at regions of the second glass substrate that correspond to the pixel regions of the first glass substrate.
A process for manufacturing an LCD device using a TFT substrate and a color filter substrate will be described with reference to a manufacturing apparatus according to the related art.
The process for manufacturing an LCD device according to the related art includes steps of forming a sealant pattern on one of a first and second substrate to form an injection inlet, bonding the first and second substrates to each other within a vacuum processing chamber, and injecting liquid crystal material through the injection inlet in the other vacuum chamber. In another process of manufacturing an LCD device according to the prior art, a liquid crystal dropping method, which is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application No. 11-089612 and 11-172903, includes steps of dropping liquid crystal material on a first substrate, arranging a second substrate over the first substrate, and moving the first and second substrates, thereby bonding the first and second substrates to each other. Compared to the liquid crystal injection method, the liquid crystal dropping method is advantageous in that various steps such as, formation of a liquid crystal material injection inlet, injection of the liquid crystal material, and sealing of the injection inlet are unnecessary since the liquid crystal material is predisposed on the first substrate.
FIGS. 1 and 2 show cross sectional views of a substrate bonding device using the liquid crystal dropping method according to the prior art. In FIG. 1, the substrate bonding device includes a frame 10, an upper stage 21, a lower stage 22, a sealant dispensor (not shown), a liquid crystal material dispensor 30, a processing chamber includes an upper chamber unit 31 and a lower chamber unit 32, a chamber moving system 40, and a stage moving system 50. The chamber moving system 40 includes a driving motor driven to selectively move the lower chamber unit 32 to a location at which the bonding process is carried out, or to a location at which outflow of the sealant occurs and dropping of the liquid crystal material. The stage moving system 50 includes another driving motor driven to selectively move the upper stage 21 along a vertical direction perpendicular to the upper and lower stages 21 and 22.
A process of manufacturing an LCD device using the substrate bonding apparatus according to the prior art follows. In FIG. 1 First, a second substrate 52 is placed upon the upper stage 21, and a first substrate 51 is placed upon the lower state 22. Then, the lower chamber unit 32 having the lower stage 22 is moved to a processing location (S1) by the chamber moving system 40 for sealant dispensing and liquid crystal material dispensing. In FIG. 2 Subsequently, the lower chamber unit 32 is moved to a processing location (S2) for substrate bonding by the chamber moving system 40. Thereafter, the upper and lower chamber units 31 and 32 are assembled together by the chamber moving system 40 to form a vacuum tight seal, and a pressure in the chamber is reduced by a vacuum generating system (not shown). Once a sufficient pressure is attained, the upper stage 21 is moved downwardly by the stage moving system 50 to fasten the second substrate 52 to the first substrate 51, and a continuous pressurization of the chamber completes the manufacture of the LCD device.
Unfortunately, the substrate bonding apparatus according to the prior art is disadvantageous. First, the substrate bonding apparatus according the prior art fails to dispense sealant and liquid crystal material on a substrate on which thin film transistors and a color filter are formed. Second, an overall size of the bonding apparatus fails to allow for other processing, thereby making it difficult in designing a layout for a manufacturing process of a liquid crystal display device. Third, due to performing multiple processes using a lower chamber unit, processing time is greatly increased, thereby decreasing overall productivity. According to the prior art, the amount of time to dispense the sealant on the first substrate, to dispense the liquid crystal material on the second substrate, and to bond the first and second substrates, results in significant amounts of time in which all of the manufacturing processes are sequentially performed and completed. Fourth, if a vacuum tight connection between the upper and lower chamber units is not attained, airflow will occur between the upper and lower chamber units, thereby resulting in a poor bond between the first and second substrates. Accordingly, additional components for assuring a vacuum tight seal between the upper and lower chamber units is required. Finally, alignment of the first and second substrates during bonding is difficult because of horizontal movement of the lower chamber unit, thereby increasing overall processing time.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Apparatus and method for manufacturing liquid crystal display device using unitary vacuum processing chamber


The present invention relates to a socket and a system of cascadable sockets for insertion therein of electrical devices such as relays, timers or counters. The socket includes device connection means by which an electrical device may be electrically connected to the socket, and may further include terminals providing electrical contacts for connecting the electrical device to an external electrical signal or a circuit. The socket includes socket connection means, for example, in the form of a slidable connector for engaging another socket placed against it. Two or more sockets engaged in this manner may facilitate a parallel electrical connection between the electrical devices each inserted in one of the two or more sockets.

In constructing an electrical circuit, certain types of electrical devices such as relays, timers and counters are often connected to the circuit via sockets, acting as intermediary components between the electrical devices and the rest of the circuit. Using sockets to connect devices in a circuit facilitates the removal and addition of electrical devices within the circuit, such as when upgrading to an electrical device of a different power rating or when replacing a defective electrical device.
A socket typically includes socket terminals such as leads or wires for electrical connection to other components in the circuit. In practice, an electrical device may first be inserted in an appropriate socket. Internal electronics or circuitry of the socket may enable electrical connection of the inserted device to the socket terminals, which in turn are appropriately connected to an external circuit, so that the inserted device is electrically connected to the external circuit. The sockets may be appropriately fastened, for example by screws, to an appropriate support surface such as a circuit board.
In some cases, it may be necessary for a number of electrical devices inserted in nearby sockets to share a single voltage signal or voltage source. Over the past this has been achieved by using additional wires or jumpers between terminals of different sockets so that the devices are connected in parallel to one another, and therefore connected in parallel to the same voltage signal or voltage source. Installing additional wires or jumpers to connect a large number of electrical devices in parallel may be time-consuming or prone to errors. Similarly, disconnecting electrical devices from the parallel circuit may also be time-consuming.

Socket and a system of cascadable sockets


A method for capturing VM resources for forensics includes receiving an indication of compromise (IoC). The indication of compromise indicates an attack is imminent against a virtual machine. The method also includes, in response to receiving the IoC and before the attack begins, snapshotting a memory state of memory used by the virtual machine and increasing a level of auditing of the virtual machine from a standard level of auditing to a heightened level of auditing. The heightened level of auditing generates data representative of all accesses to the memory used by the virtual machine. After the attack against the virtual machine has begun, the method includes maintaining the heightened level of auditing for a threshold period of time, notifying a user of the virtual machine of the indication of compromise, and storing the data in memory external to the virtual machine.

Many third-party software services capture snapshots of a state of memory in a computing system for the purpose for recovering or analyzing a malicious software attack. Because modern computing systems may utilize a substantial amount of memory, these snapshots often consume considerable processing and memory resources. Additionally, the static nature of the snapshots only captures the delta between snapshots, thereby causing contention between the desire to capture snapshots at a high frequency to ensure a small delta and the desirability to maintain performance by minimizing the number of snapshots captured and stored.

Behavior-based VM resource capture for forensics


A sensor apparatus includes an array of active sensor elements arranged in columns and rows. Each sensor element is associated with a thin film access device disposed in a first current path through which an activation current is provided to activate the sensor element. Each sensor element is read through a respective second current path. The second current paths do not include the thin film access device of the first current path. As such, noise from the thin film access device is isolated from the second current paths.

In the field of large area electronics, low cost but high performance sensors are one of the most targeted applications. These sensors can be used for a variety of acquisition functions such as thermal measurements, x-ray detection, and pressure sensing, to name a few. These devices are used in diverse fields including medical, environmental, security and industrial, amongst others. In particular, biometric security has attracted a great deal of attention in the recent years and, at the forefront of this field, fingerprint technology is the dominant technology. The fine patterns formed by ridges and valleys on the finger's skin can be mapped by sensing arrays of high resolution. These sensing arrays have been used for a number of years in this field, but they vary in basic operating principles. Some sensors utilize heat signals, while others electrical or optical signals. Accuracy levels are limited by the physical principles used to read fingerprint patterns (i.e., optical, capacitive, pressure, etc.) and most have not yielded the level of accuracy required for biometric security purposes. Furthermore, immunity to environmental variables such as dirt or humidity is also important when performing a fingerprint scan.
Development and commercialization of these sensing arrays are usually dictated by the cost of the processing technology used to build them as well as their sensing accuracy. Because these sensors are built over a large area, selecting a suitable technology that can yield the appropriate level of accuracy at an acceptable cost is often difficult.
The most efficient and accurate sensing arrays are based on active principles. Active sensors quantify a specific physical parameter response to a given stimulus. One of the most promising methods is the active thermal principle. In particular, active thermal sensors measure an object's heat conductance for a given heating stimulus. Examples of sensors of this type are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,091,837 to Dinh, entitled "Sensor for Acquiring a Fingerprint Image Based on Heat Transfer" (hereinafter "Dinh I") and WO 2006/033582 A1, also to Dinh, entitled "Apparatus for Fingerprint Sensing and Other Measurements" (hereinafter, "Dinh II"), the entirety of each of which is hereby incorporated by reference herein. The response to the stimulus is measured by each of the sensing sites within a sensor array. The thermal response of an element is in part a function of the stimulus provided, i.e., the larger the stimulus, the larger the response. Sensing sites are heated by application of an electrical current to the site.
Recent advances in lower cost semiconductor electronics, such as high performance polycrystalline silicon ("polysilicon") thin film transistors (TFTs), have enabled the implementation of accurate sensing arrays at a reduced cost. Pairing this device technology with the active thermal principle for fingerprint scanning can provide advantages such as low profile devices, improved ruggedness and accuracy. Use of this technology also provides the ability to integrate control circuitry on the same panel as the sensing array, further reducing cost and increasing integration levels. One of the main drawbacks of using these lower cost technologies, however, is their limited device performance when compared to conventional, single crystalline electronics. Even though material properties have improved dramatically in recent years, improvements are still needed. For example, it is important to acquire an electric signal that is free of electrical noise (i.e., a signal that has good signal-to-noise ratio). This ratio eventually determines the accuracy of the system and ultimately its ability to detect, for example, correct fingerprints. Thin film devices formed using polycrystalline material can generate high amounts of electrical noise, particularly when using a large stimulus (e.g., current) to obtain a high response. This makes the task of obtaining a good signal to noise ratio difficult.
Sensing architectures having improved device performance are desired.

Low noise reading architecture for active sensor arrays


Techniques for network latency estimation in a computer network are disclosed herein. One example technique includes instructing first and second nodes in the computer network to individually perform traceroute operations along a first round-trip route and a second round-trip route between the first and second nodes. The first round-trip route includes an inbound network path of an existing round-trip route between the first and second nodes and an outbound network path that is a reverse of the inbound network path. The second round-trip route has an outbound network path of the existing round-trip route and an inbound network path that is a reverse of the outbound network path. The example technique further includes upon receiving traceroute information from the additional traceroute operations, determine a latency difference between the inbound and outbound network paths of the existing round-trip route based on the received additional traceroute information.

Distributed computing systems typically include routers, switches, bridges, and other types of network devices that interconnect large numbers of servers, network storage devices, or other computing devices. The individual servers can host one or more virtual machines ("VMs"), containers, virtual switches, or other virtualized functions. The virtual machines or containers can facilitate execution of suitable applications for individual users to provide to the users desired cloud services or other suitable computing services.

Network latency estimation in distributed computing systems


A tail trim assembly for an exhaust pipe in a vehicle which may be mounted at a rear portion of the exhaust pipe that may be formed at an end of a vehicle muffler and discharges exhaust gas and condensed water from the muffler to the outside, may include a main body fitted around the rear portion of the exhaust pipe, at least a welding part formed at an end of the main body and welded to the exhaust pipe, and a collecting part formed at a rear end of the main body, wherein the rear end of the main body and a rear end of the rear portion in the exhaust pipe may be spaced with a predetermined gap to collect the condensed water discharged from the exhaust pipe therethrough.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a tail trim assembly for the exhaust pipe in a vehicle. More particularly, the present invention relates to a tail trim assembly for the exhaust pipe in a vehicle which retards or prevents leakage by collecting condensed water that is discharged through the exhaust pipe formed at the end of the muffler of the vehicle while improve commercial value by improving the aesthetic appearance of the exhaust pipe.
2. Description of Related Art
In general, for example, the mufflers used in the exhaust systems of vehicles reduce exhaust noise by decreasing temperature and pressure of the exhaust gas discharged from the engine.
The mufflers are predetermined-shaped cylindrical members of which the inside is divided in several spaces to reduce noise by decreasing pressure change, interference of the sound wave of exhaust gas passing through the barriers, and exhaust temperature.
Accordingly, condensed water is produced by condensation of high-temperature exhaust gas in the mufflers, such that an exhaust pipe is mounted at the rear end of the mufflers to face the ground to discharge the condensed water as fast as possible.
Meanwhile, vehicles equipped with a GDI (Gasoline Direct Injection) engine are recently increased and excessive soot is produced by the exhaust gas in the vehicles equipped with the GDI engine.
The soot in the exhaust gas is mixed with the condensed water in the muffler and makes the condensed water black.
However, the exhaust pipe designed to be installed to face down in the related art quickly discharges the black condensed water mixed with soot to the ground in idling of the vehicles equipped with the GDI engine, such that the ground where the vehicles stop is contaminated, which pollutes the environment.
The information disclosed in this Background of the Invention section is only for enhancement of understanding of the general background of the invention and should not be taken as an acknowledgement or any form of suggestion that this information forms the prior art already known to a person skilled in the art.

Tail trim assembly for exhaust pipe in vehicle


A system, computer program product and method for dispatching work items in a virtual machine operating system. The virtual machine operating system defines first and second virtual machines. First and second work queues are created in a memory. The first virtual machine assigns a first work item to the first work queue and a second work item to the second work queue. The first virtual machine schedules work items from the first work queue for execution by the first virtual machine. The first and second work items originate from the first virtual machine. The first and second work queues are directly accessible by the first virtual machine. The second virtual machine assigns a third work item to the first work queue and a fourth work item to the second work queue. The second virtual machine schedules work items from the second work queue for execution by the second virtual machine. The third and fourth work items originate from the second virtual machine. The first and second work queues are directly accessible by the second virtual machine. The first virtual machine is not able to schedule work items from the second work queue, and the second virtual machine is not able to schedule work items from the first work queue. A shared work queue in shared memory is also disclosed.

A virtual machine operating system is well known today, and includes a common base portion and separate user portions formed by the common base portion. In an IBM z/VM operating system, the common base portion is called the "Control Program" or "CP" and each user portion is called a "virtual machine" or "guest". A virtual machine or guest is a virtual sharing/partitioning of real resources such as real memory, CPU and I/O. A guest operating system executes/runs on each virtual machine, and one or more applications run on the guest operating system. Each application and guest operating system behave as if they are running on their own private, real computer.
Each virtual machine has its own dispatch function which consists of its synchronization function, work queue assignment function, work scheduler and associated work queue of work items or tasks assigned by and to the virtual machine. The synchronization function, work queue assignment function, work scheduler and the work queue are all private to the virtual machine. A synchronization function manages locks to control which tasks must run sequentially and which tasks can run in parallel. A work queue assignment function is a program function within the virtual machine which adds work items to the work queue of the virtual machine when generated by the virtual machine. Each work item on the queue includes information indicating its type, and therefore, which function within the virtual machine is best suited to handle it. A "work scheduler" is a program function which schedules each of the work items on its queue for execution, and passes them to the appropriate function within the virtual machine for execution. There are many known algorithms for scheduling work items. They may be based on a variety of factors such as a priority level assigned to each task, the order in which the work items arrived on the queue, etc. Some of those work items originate from the guest operating system and others originated from the application(s) running on the guest operating system.
It is wasteful of the virtual machine and the associated partition of real computer resources for the virtual machine to be idle. This may occur when there are no work items on the associated work queue, and the current work item is completed. While the foregoing dispatch function is effective in assigning and dispatching tasks, it would be desirable to manage the dispatch functions of multiple virtual machines so as to optimally balance loads and skills between different virtual machines.
It was also known that a server virtual machine can be utilized for the purpose of "hosting" a shared work queue for the other, "working" virtual machines. The shared work queue resides in memory private to the server virtual machine. When a working virtual machine creates a new work item, and the work queue assignment function for this working virtual machine decides to send this new work item to the server virtual machine, it uses a communication protocol (e.g. TCP/IP) to send that work item to this server virtual machine. Then, the server virtual machine places the new work item on the shared work queue in an order determined by the server virtual machine. When a work scheduler within a working virtual machine wants to execute a work item on the shared work queue, it uses a communication protocol to make that request to the server virtual machine. In response, the server virtual machine uses a communication protocol to send a work item to the working virtual machine that made the request. While this arrangement provides a shared work queue, it requires a high overhead communication protocol to both send a work item to the work queue and obtain a work item from the work queue. In addition this arrangement requires an extra virtual machine to manage the shared work queue. Furthermore, the server virtual machine attempts to balance the load among the working virtual machines by monitoring the working virtual machines and estimating which working virtual machine will be able to handle the work item most expeditiously. The server virtual machine must also be able to re-balance the load among working virtual machines when working virtual machines are dynamically added and/or deleted. Still further, the server virtual machine must synchronize the work items as determined by its private synchronization function. All these server virtual machine functions require considerable communication between the server virtual machine and the working virtual machines.
Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide functionality in a virtual machine operating system which effectively balances work loads and/or skills between different virtual machines.
Another object of the present invention is to provide functionality in a virtual machine operating system of the foregoing type which minimizes overhead required to manage the dispatch and other functions.

Multiple virtual machines sharing processor and work queue in memory having program/dispatch functions for assigning and accessing work items while the virtual machine was not idle

International Business Machines Corporation


A method of manufacture of an integrated circuit packaging system includes: forming a lead frame having contact pads and connection leads; coupling a base integrated circuit to the contact pads; coupling a chip interconnect between the base integrated circuit, the connection leads, the contact pads, or a combination thereof; molding a package body on the connection leads, the base integrated circuit, and the chip interconnects, including having the contact pads exposed; and forming a bottom surface on the package body including forming the connection leads to be coplanar with the bottom surface.

Many of today's highly integrated products have become exceedingly popular. These products include cell phones that include a camera, or a global positioning system that includes an audio player for personal music downloads. In order to integrate these diverse functions quickly, the electronics industry has pushed the boundaries of package technology in many directions.
Integrated circuit dice are conventionally enclosed in plastic packages that provide protection from hostile environments and enable electrical interconnection between the integrated circuit die and an underlying substrate such as a printed circuit board (PCB). The elements of such a package include a conductive lead frame, an integrated circuit die, bonding material to attach the integrated circuit die to the lead frame, bond wires which electrically connect pads on the integrated circuit die to individual leads of the lead frame, and a hard plastic encapsulant material which covers the other components and forms the exterior of the package.
The lead frame is the central supporting structure of such a package. A portion of the lead frame is internal to the package, i.e., completely surrounded by the plastic encapsulant. Portions of the leads of the lead frame extend externally from the package or are partially exposed within the encapsulant material for use in electrically connecting the package to another component. In certain semiconductor packages, a portion of the die pad of the lead frame also remains exposed within the exterior of the package for use as a heat sink.
One type of semiconductor package commonly known in the electronics field is referred to as a quad flat pack (QFP) package. A typical QFP package comprises a thin, generally square package body defining four peripheral sides of substantially equal length. Protruding from each of the four peripheral sides of the package body are a number of leads which each have a generally gull-wing configuration. Portions of the leads are internal to the package body, and are electrically connected to respective ones of the pads or terminals of a semiconductor die also encapsulated within the package body. The semiconductor die is itself mounted to a die pad of the QFP package lead frame.
There is a current need in the electronics industry for a QFP package which includes additional input/output capabilities than can be provided by the leads protruding from the sides of the package body. Thus, a need still remains for an integrated circuit packaging system with increased connectivity that can provide additional connection options for highly integrated electronic packages while maintaining a thin profile. In view of the rapid development of products that require high levels of integration, it is increasingly critical that answers be found to these problems. In view of the ever-increasing commercial competitive pressures, along with growing consumer expectations and the diminishing opportunities for meaningful product differentiation in the marketplace, it is critical that answers be found for these problems. Additionally, the need to save costs, improve efficiencies and performance, and meet competitive pressures, adds an even greater urgency to the critical necessity for finding answers to these problems.
Solutions to these problems have been long sought but prior developments have not taught or suggested any solutions and, thus, solutions to these problems have long eluded those skilled in the art.

Integrated circuit packaging system with increased connectivity and method of manufacture thereof


The invention relates to a method of preparing an improved cable and an improved optical fiber cable comprising a central reinforcement member and a plurality of loose tubes as laying elements, placed longitudinally around the central reinforcement member. The loose tubes comprising at least one or more optical fiber filaments. A gel filling material is contained in both the inner section as well as the outer section of the loose tubes. A layer encircling the assembly is selected from the group consisting of an aramide fiber layer, a fiber glass and combination thereof. At least one or more plastic cover is placed longitudinally over the fiber layer to support metal ribbons which are peripherally incorporated to the assembly and a second layer of plastic cover is placed over the metal ribbon.

Presently different techniques are known to produce a variety of optical fiber cables for telecommunication purposes. Through these optical elements it is possible to establish a physical link among telephone, computer, telecontrol and similar telecommunication centers. Said telecommunication is performed through electronic signals and based on bundles of light rays.
The abovementioned optical fiber filaments are small, with diameters usually smaller than one millimeter. It is convenient to give them adequate protection to use them over long distances. One type of protection which is already in use is what is called an adhered type protection, which is obtained through the extrusion of a plastic or similar material on and in direct contact with said filaments.
The optical cables typically use optical fibers with an adhered fiber protection, as laying elements. In Mexican Patent No. 159491 improvements to said cable are presented, said improvements are characterized because they use loose tubes as laying elements. These loose tubes, in turn, are characterized because they are a protection for one or several optical fiber elements contained within said tubes. Said tubes are also characterized because they contain the filaments, alone or together with a filling material for the protection of the filaments against possible moisture penetration inside the tube.
Dry tubes are tubes which do not contain a filling material and filled tubes are tubes that contain said filling material. In turn, said filling material is characterized because it has a consistency that protects the filaments, is moisture repellent and allows at the same time the movement of said filaments within the tubes.
The improvements to the optical cable are also characterized because the (dry or filled) loose tubes are laid through their unidirectional or bidirectional helicoidal application around a central traction element. This central traction element is characterized because it is used for pulling the optical cable during its installation. Said traction element is also characterized because it has a breaking load capable of withstanding the weight and tension of a continuous (without unions) and finite length of optical cable during the installation. The loose tubes are kept on the central element through the application on said loose tubes of a union element. On this assembly, one or two plastic covers are extruded, under which metal ribbons are to be found, longitudinally placed for the mechanical protection of the optical cable of the present invention.
The applicant has developed an optical fiber cable that improves the previous qualities through a new manufacturing technique.
The improvements to the optical cable are based on a loose tube type construction, said loose tubes are laid in an unidirectional or bidirectional (sz) helicoidal form around a light central element with low mechanical memory. This central element constitutes a traction element when the cable is submitted to tension forces caused by the installation; and an element that balances the expansion and contraction forces caused by the operation of the cable at the limits of the thermal range.
On the core formed by the central element and the loose tubes, an aramide fiber layer or a fiber glass layer is placed which, together with the central element, contributes to reach a higher tension during the installation process. On said assembly one or several plastic covers are applied, said covers support one or two metal ribbons placed longitudinally. As final protection, another plastic cover is applied.


A backlight unit for a liquid crystal display is provided. The backlight unit includes a surface light source, a diffuser sheet uniformly diffusing incident light from the surface light source, and a light collection sheet collecting light diffused by the diffuser sheet. The surface light source includes a first LED arrangement in which two green LEDs, a red Led, and a blue LED are arranged in this order and a second LED arrangement in which two green LEDs, a blue LED, and a red LED are arranged in this order. The first and second LED arrangements are done along rows or columns, and, in a combination of the first and second LED arrangement, the two green LEDs are surrounded by the red and/or blue LEDs.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a surface light source using light emitting diodes (LEDs) and having improved light emission quality and a backlight unit for a liquid crystal display (LCD) having the surface light source, and more particularly, to a surface light source that can provide uniform white light by eliminating color stain phenomenon by arranging LEDs such that two adjacent green LEDs can be surrounded by red and/or blue LEDs.
2. Description of the Related Art
A cold cathode fluorescent lamp (CCFL) is widely used as a light source of a conventional backlight for an LCD. Since the CCFL uses mercury gas, it may cause the environmental pollution. Furthermore, the CCFL has a relatively slow response time and a relatively low color reproduction. In addition, the CCFL is not proper to reduce the weight, thickness and overall volume of an LCD panel to which it is applied.
However, LEDs are eco-oriented and have a response time of several nano seconds, thereby being effect for a video signal stream and enabling an impulsive driving. Furthermore, the LEDs have 100% color reproduction and can properly vary luminance and color temperature by adjusting a quantity of light emitted from red, green and blue LEDs. In addition, the LEDs are proper to reduce the weight, thickness and overall volume of the LCD panel. Therefore, in recent years, they have been widely used as a light source of a backlight unit for the LCD.
The LCD backlight employing the LEDs can be classified into an edge type backlight and a direct type backlight according to positions of the light source. In the edge type backlight, the light source is positioned at a side and emits light toward a front surface of the LCD panel using a light guide plate. In the direct type backlight, the light source is a surface light source placed under the LCD panel and having a surface area almost identical to that of the LCD panel and directly emits light toward the front surface of the LCD panel.
In order to generate white light by mixing red, green and blue colors, as shown in FIG. 1B, a convention direct type LCD panel uses a surface light source 300 having a plurality of 2×2 LED matrixes 305 that are arranged along rows and columns. As shown in FIG. 1A, each of the 2×2 LED matrixes 305 includes red and blue LEDs arranged in a first diagonal direction and two green LEDs arranged in a second diagonal direction.
In FIGS. 1A and 1B, reference symbols "R," "G" and "B" represent the red LED, the green LED, and the blue LED, respectively. Generally, in order to generate the white light, two green LEDs, one red LED and one blue LED are used.
Referring to FIG. 1B, the red light, the green light and the blue light are effectively mixed with each other at a central portion of the surface light source 300, thereby uniformly generating the white light. However, since the blue or red LEDs cannot be properly arranged at edge portions 311 and 312, red color light or blue color light is emitted from the edge portions 311 and 312.
That is, only the red LEDs (R) and the green LEDs (G) are alternately arranged at the edge portion 311, but no blue LED (B) is arranged at the edge portion 311. Also, the red color light is emitted from the edge portion 311. Only the blue LEDs (B) and the green LEDs (G) are alternately arranged at the edge portion 312, but no red LED (R) is arranged at the edge portion 312. Also, the blue color light is emitted from the edge portion 312.
That is, the surface light source 300 using the above-described LED arrangement cannot uniformly emit the white light at the edge portions 311 and 312 thereof.
FIG. 2 is a schematic view of a conventional surface light source for solving the above-described problems. According to this conventional surface light source 400, blue, green, green, and red LEDs are repeatedly arranged in this order along a first row 410. Also, green, red, blue, and green LEDs are repeatedly arranged in this order along a second row 420, and green, blue, red, and green LEDs are repeatedly arranged in this order along a third row 430. In addition, red, green, green, and blue LEDs are repeatedly arranged in this order along a fourth row.
In the conventional surface light source 400, since the green, red, blue, and green LEDs are provided at edge portions 411 and 412, uniform white light can be emitted from the edge portions 411 and 412. However, since there is a region 415 where four green LEDs are consecutively arranged at a central portion of the surface light source 400, green color light is emitted from the region 415. This causes the color stain of the LCD panel.
An optical simulation was performed for the conventional surface light source 400. As a result, it can be noted that the conventional light source has a color coordinate distribution 450 as shown in FIG. 3. The color coordinate distribution 450 shows that a green color is strongly distributed as compared with a normal color distribution illustrated in FIG. 6 and a color resolution of a human being illustrated in FIG. 7. That is, referring to the color coordinate distribution 450, it can be noted that X-axis value is inversely proportional to Y-axis value. That is, the distribution of Y-axis is low when the distribution of an X-axis is high, or the distribution of Y-axis is high when the distribution of X-axis is low. When comparing this distribution with a normal color distribution illustrated in FIG. 6, the green color distribution is higher than that in FIG. 6. The color distribution strays off from a region (i.e., an oval region 462) that is similar to the color detection level of the human being. That is, the color distribution is included in the outer oval region 464 such that the human being recognizes other colors rather than the white light.
Therefore, the conventional surface light source 400 and the backlight unit using the conventional surface light source 400 cannot provide a uniform white light distribution due to the color stain.

Surface light source and backlight unit having the same


A near eye display apparatus includes: a lens having a viewing area, the lens comprising a waveguide having a waveguide input and a waveguide output optically coupled to the viewing area; an optical projector having a projector output, the optical projector comprising an illumination source optically coupled to the optical prism element and configured to provide illumination light into the optical prism element at a particular direction, a spatial light modulator optically coupled to the optical prism element and configured to receive the illumination light from the optical prism element and to reflect patterned light, the optical prism element configured to provide the patterned light to the projector output at the particular direction; and an optical folding element optically coupled between the projector output and the waveguide input, the optical folding element configured to fold an optical path of the patterned light in at least two different directions.

Near eye displays are increasingly used. In a near eye display, the viewer's eye is very close to a lens, so the system is a personal imaging system. An image appears in the field of view of the user. Unlike imaging systems that project an image onto a screen or surface for viewing, in a near eye display the image is projected from a viewing area on a lens onto the human retina, where the image is perceived to be in front of the viewer. The distance from a viewing pupil on the lens to the user's eye may be only a few millimeters. Many near eye systems are provided in wearable portable devices, resembling eyeglasses or goggles.
In some examples, the system may provide an immersive viewing experience, so the viewer sees only the image projected by the system, while the immersive viewing system blocks light from other sources. Virtual reality ("VR") systems are useful for gaming, simulators, training systems, or virtual 2D or 3D viewing for movies, games, or video presentations.
Alternative systems that use near eye display are transmissive systems, where the lenses act as optical combiners. In those alternative systems, the viewer looks through the lens of the near eye display, and the lens optically combines the images provided by the system with the scene the viewer is observing. Examples are augmented reality ("AR") systems. In some systems, a user wears the AR headsets or glasses in a manner similar to sunglasses or eyeglasses, and the lenses display information that adds to ("augments") the real visual environment observed by the user while wearing the device. In other systems, such as an automotive or aerospace 61 "heads up" displays, the viewer looks into the near eye display, and the imaging system adds images to the scene in front of the viewer. In this way, the viewer can observe a scene while receiving additional information at the same time, such as vehicle speed, fuel gauges, system messages, and similar data.
An example near eye display system includes a transmissive lens that displays visual information in the form of images that are optically combined with the scene being viewed through the lens. For example, notifications can be displayed and viewed along with a scene being observed. Examples of such notifications include social media messages, text including navigation information, weather, traffic, historical or tourism information about an object or place, retail offers such as sales or advertising related to a store or place near to or being viewed by a wearer, stock quotes, sports scores or other context driven notifications or information. Interactive games can be played with an AR headset, such as "scavenger hunts" or games involving finding virtual objects at a location, or games scoring the user's ability to find a target place or object. Navigation aids can be provided with the system, such as text cues indicating directions on where to proceed to reach a destination, when to exit a freeway, where to turn, or upcoming hazards (such as indicating an accident ahead or slow traffic ahead). As the wearer moves through an environment and looks through the transmissive lens of the device, the system can augment the experience with a variety of visual information, cues or aids. The system can include a processor and can include network connections, such as cellular connections, Wi-Fi connections, Bluetooth connections, or the display system can be coupled to another device including such connections, such as a smartphone, tablet, portable web browser, video player, or laptop computer. Some AR systems provide a full field of view display that is always in the view of the user, while other AR systems may provide a small display provided at a portion of the view that the user must specifically look at to see, such as "smart" glasses.
In an example near eye display system, a projector is mounted to a wearable headset to provide the display information to the waveguide of the lens. The projector includes optical and reflective elements, such as lenses, mirrors and illumination sources. In some systems, a spatial light modulator ("SLM") provides the images from a video data source. The AR or VR glasses or headsets can become quite bulky, in order to provide the physical space needed for housing the projector including optics, the spatial light modulator, and illumination elements. Accordingly, the glasses or headset can become heavy and uncomfortable to the wearer. The wearer can experience chafing or injury to nose and ear areas that support the glasses or headset when the glasses or headset are worn over a period of time.


A processing method for selectively reducing or removing the region to be exposed with energy ray in a film formed on a substrate, comprising relatively scanning a first exposure light whose shape on the substrate is smaller than the whole first region to be exposed against the whole first region to be exposed to selectively remove or reduce the first region to be exposed, and exposing a whole second region to be exposed inside the whole first region to be exposed with a second exposure light to selectively expose the whole second region to be exposed.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a processing method for selectively processing a film to be exposed formed on a substrate, manufacturing method of a semiconductor device, and processing apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, with advance of semiconductor element miniaturization, it has become essential to enhance precision of an alignment technique with a lower layer in a lithography process. To align a pattern already formed on a substrate with a pattern to be exposed at exposing latent image, an exclusive scope for detecting an alignment mark position has heretofore been used. However, since an offset surely exists between the exclusive scope for alignment and exposure axis in this method, a deviation is generated between the alignment scope and exposure axis because of an influence of thermal drift, and an alignment deviation of the alignment mark position is generated. Therefore, with the advance of the miniaturization of a semiconductor, a problem has occurred that magnitude of the alignment deviation of the alignment position largely influences yield of a chip.
To improve this, an exposure-through-the-reticle (ETTR) method of detecting alignment mark and exposing pattern along the same axis is considered as a promising alignment technique of the next generation. In the ETTR method, high-precision alignment can be realized. On the other hand, since light source with same wavelength of a DUV region as that of the exposure is used, light absorption is large in an anti-reflection film formed below a resist layer. A problem occurs that position information cannot be detected from the alignment mark in the anti-reflection film lower layer. Similarly, when the films formed on the alignment mark such as an organic insulating film and interlayer insulating film of SiN or SiC is opaque to an exposure light, position information of the alignment mark cannot be detected. Moreover, even when the alignment by ETTR is not performed, and even when contrast of an alignment light is weak, position information of alignment cannot be detected.
To solve the problem, there has been proposed a method of selectively remove the opaque film formed on the alignment mark with laser ablation before an alignment step. However, this method has a problem that particles generated at a laser ablation sticks to a device pattern region, which forms a critical defect.

Processing method, manufacturing method of semiconductor device, and processing apparatus


A self-propelled agricultural implement having a power unit with a pair of steerable drive wheels and a pair of rearward balance wheels. The forward end of the power unit is selectively connectable to an implement attachment having forward attachment wheels and power connections from the power unit.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a self-propelled agricultural implement and more specifically to a self-propelled agricultural implement having a power unit and one or more implement attachments selectively attachable to and detachable from the forward end of the power unit.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A variety of implements currently exist which have been used to perform various agricultural tasks relating to the planting, maintaining and harvesting of agricultural crops. In the case of potatoes, these may include tasks such as planting, windowing, hilling, and harvesting. In the past, these tasks were accomplished by a conventional tractor with a separate implement, dedicated to performing a particular task, attached to and towed behind the tractor. When that task was completed, the implement relating to such task would be disconnected and a new implement attached. Although this worked reasonably well, it was necessary for the operator in such a system to continually turn to look over his or her shoulder at the towed implement to make sure the implement was functioning properly. This constant turning, particularly for extended hours of operation, led to numerous neck, back and other medical problems. These in turn resulted in increased insurance or injury claims and thus an overall increase in operator cost.
More recently, self-propelled implements with power units and dedicated implements have been designed which carry implement members for performing a specific task. These implement members are generally positioned forward of the operator, thus eliminating the need to continually turn and check the operation of the implement. A primary disadvantage of such a system, however, is the fact that such implement is dedicated to performing only one specific task. Thus, in the case of potatoes, several of such implements, each with a separate power unit and dedicated implement member, are needed to perform all of the tasks relating to the planting, maintenance and harvesting of the crop. This results in significant down time for many of the self-propelled units and a significant increase in expense.
Accordingly, there is a need in the art for an implement which overcomes the limitations which currently exist.


Process for the conversion of carbon oxide(s) and hydrogen containing feedstocks into alcohols in the presence of a particulate catalyst.

U.S. Pat. No. 4,122,110 relates to a process for manufacturing alcohols, particularly linear saturated primary alcohols, by reacting carbon monoxide with hydrogen at a pressure between 20 and 250 bars and a temperature between 150 DEG and 400 DEG C., in the presence of a catalyst, characterized in that the catalyst contains at least 4 essential elements: (a) copper (b) cobalt (c) at least one element M selected from chromium, iron, vanadium and manganese, and (d) at least one alkali metal.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,831,060 relates to the production of mixed alcohols from carbon monoxide and hydrogen gases using a catalyst, with optionally a co-catalyst, wherein the catalyst metals are molybdenum, tungsten or rhenium, and the co-catalyst metals are cobalt, nickel or iron. The catalyst is promoted with a Fischer-Tropsch promoter like an alkali or alkaline earth series metal or a smaller amount of thorium and is further treated by sulfiding. The composition of the mixed alcohols fraction can be selected by selecting the extent of intimate contact among the catalytic components.
Journal of Catalysis 114, 90-99 (1988) discloses a mechanism of ethanol formation from synthesis gas over CuO/ZnO/Al2O3. The formation of ethanol from CO and H2 over a CuO/ZnO methanol catalyst is studied in a fixed-bed microreactor by measuring the isotopic distribution of the carbon in the product ethanol when 13C methanol was added to the feed.

Process for the conversion of synthesis gas to oxygenates containing C2+ alcohols


An advantageous production system comprises at least a camera producing a raw digital signal and a processing circuit for generating a processed video signal from the raw digital signal. In a control area, at least a camera control interface is able to set at least a parameter in the processing circuit. The processing circuit is located in the control area. An image capturing system for such a production system is also presented.

In traditional multi-camera production systems, the cameras, base stations and video mixer plus digital effects are closely linked together in a system with an overall low latency.
A simplified example of such a production system is given in FIG. 1.
At the camera location 2, a person with a camera 4 (camera person) frames the picture and keeps it in focus. The camera person works with the camera 4 on the basis of a picture observed in the camera viewfinder (not shown). He generally gets his commands from the director.
In the control area 6 (generally a control room), a camera control operator uses camera controls 8 to control parameters of the camera 4 and its video processing circuits 12, like iris, black, painting and contours, in order to define the "looks" of the picture and to maintain proper video levels and white balance. The camera control operator works on the basis of a picture on a reference monitor 10 at the control location (control room 6).
As the camera location 2 and control area 6 are conventionally close to each other and simply connected by electrical wires 16, 18 (e.g. triax cables), there is no noticeable latency in the communication channel consisting of these wires 16, 18 between the camera 4 and its processing circuits 12 on the one hand, and the control area 6 with camera controls 8 on the other hand. Although the processing circuits 12 are represented on FIG. 1 separate from the camera 4 for the sake of clarity, they are most generally part of the camera 4.
When the camera control operator modifies a parameter on camera controls 8, the information is transmitted via the control electrical wire 18 to the processing circuits 12 of the camera 4. There, the change in value of the parameter becomes effective, thus altering the effects of the processing circuits 12 on the raw (video and audio) signal 20. The change is then visible on the processed signal 22, which is transmitted to the control area 6 via the signal electrical wire 16. At this time, the change is visible on the monitor 10.
This closed control loop needs very low latency (less than 0.1 second) to avoid instability and permit fast control. This is easy to obtain with the conventional structure as described above where the camera location 2 and the control area 6 are close to each other, or connected with a low-latency connection.
The processed signal 22 is ready to be broadcast or transmitted as schematically represented in FIG. 1, for instance via an emitter 14.
The production chain may involve additional steps: for instance, a production control operator may switch between pictures of several cameras and add effects if necessary, on the basis of commands he gets from the director.
In recent years, a lot of new communication channels have been developed, as for instance satellite links and public networks like the Internet, which allow the transmission of information from a wide range of locations on Earth.
It would be very convenient if these new communications channels could be used to transmit video and audio information from the camera to the control area of the broadcaster as it would greatly widen the possibilities for the camera and the camera person to move freely. Furthermore, it could reduce production cost as only part of the production team will have to travel to and stay on the location of the shooting.
The problem with such long distance communication channels is that they suffer noticeable latency which make them totally maladapted to be used as a communication channel between camera and control area. Effectively, if such a communication channel were used in the conventional system described above, the time constant of the closed control loop would be too large to avoid instability and to allow fast control.
This problem is even more important as it is generally desirable to compress the video and audio information transmitted via such communication channels, which further lengthen the latency time of the communication.
The solution of avoiding long distance in the closed control loop by placing the camera controls at the camera location is not totally satisfactory in professional production, as the director wants to entirely monitor the looks or appearance of the picture at the control room (central studio).

Production system, control area for a production system and image capturing system for a production system


A media gateway (34.2) comprises a line interface (54) comprising at least one input port, which is connectable to a time division multiplex (TDM) communications carrier. The at least one input port being configured to receive input data in at least one of a) clear channel data in a data carrier type and b) TDM framed in a primary rate carrier. The gateway comprises an extractor (66) for extracting the clear channel data and a formatter (64) for formatting the framed data. The gateway further comprises an interface (67) for making the extracted data and/or formatted data available as packet data network (PDN) data at a PDN output port of the gateway.

This invention relates to a media gateway and more particularly to a gateway for use in an electronic communications recording system.
Electronic communications recording systems are known and are typically used for surveillance by intelligence services and law enforcement agencies and more particularly to intercept, monitor and electronically record data relating to communications events associated with target data or numbers on intercepted communication networks. A target number may be a telephone number, internet protocol (IP) address, URL etc. There is also a growing need for commercial communications recording systems in communications carrier networks and by service providers.
Media gateways are also well known and in general serve the purpose of converting or translating data carried according to a first protocol in a first network to a second different protocol, typically to be transmitted in a second network according to the second protocol.
One presently known gateway is one configured to receive time division multiplexed (TDM) channels in a data carrier type, such as the known E1, T1 and J1 carrier types or higher order carrier types in the relevant hierarchies, and to de-multiplex beyond the carrier type level to channel level, thereby to make selected channel data available on a local area network (LAN) to a host device, such as a VoIP telephone device connected to the LAN.
Such a gateway is not suitable in recording systems of the aforementioned kind, wherein large amounts of communications related data are required to be processed.

Gateway for use in an electronic communications recording system


A vehicle headlamp including a discharge lamp, which includes a light source, and a cap that holds the light source. The vehicle headlamp also includes a reflector, which includes a light reflecting part and a lamp holding part formed contiguously with one end of the light reflecting part. The vehicle headlamp also includes a socket connected to the cap, which supplies drive current to the lamp. The socket includes a case that holds a structure disposed therein, and a connection portion, which is connected to the cap and which protrudes toward the cap from an opposite surface of the case facing the cap. A conductive member is mounted on the lamp holding part to transmit noise generated when the lamp is turned on and a conducting portion is formed on the opposite surface of the case to surround the connection portion. The conductive member and the conducting portion are connected.

1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to a vehicle headlamp. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to a vehicle headlamp that can secure good conductivity between a reflector and a socket and can reduce the size of a vehicle headlamp by forming a conducting portion, which is connected to a conductive member to transmit noise generated when the discharge lamp is turned on, on a certain surface of a case of the socket.
2. Related Art
For example, there is a vehicle headlamp where a lamp unit, which includes a light source and a reflector reflecting light emitted from the light source, is disposed in a lamp outer case, which includes a cover and a lamp housing.
There are vehicle headlamps where a discharge lamp is used as the light source and a lighting device supplies drive current to the discharge lamp in order to turn on the discharge lamp (see e.g., JP-A-2007-317453 and JP-A-2005-302743).
The lighting device may include an electric power supply, a control unit, a high-voltage generator, and the like. The electric power supply may include a lighting circuit unit, for example, a switching element, and supplies electric power to the discharge lamp. The control unit controls the electric power supplied to the discharge lamp. The high-voltage generator includes a starting circuit referred to as a starter that turns on the discharge lamp by generating a high voltage in the discharge lamp.
In the vehicle headlamp described in JP-A-2007-317453, the lighting device includes: a socket that includes a case for holding a predetermined structure and a connection portion connected to a cap of the discharge lamp; a device body that is disposed at a lower end portion of a lamp outer case; and a connecting cable that is connected to the device body and the socket. The electric power supply, the control unit, the high-voltage generator, and the like are disposed in the device body.
In the vehicle headlamp described in JP-A-2005-302743, the lighting device includes: a socket that is connected to a cap of the discharge lamp; a device body that is disposed at a lower end portion of a lamp outer case; and a connecting cable that connects the socket to the device body. The electric power supply and the control unit are disposed in the device body, and the high-voltage generator is disposed in the socket.
In the vehicle headlamp using a discharge lamp as the light source, there is a concern that noise is generated when the discharge lamp is turned on, which has a negative influence on devices in the vehicle, for example, a communication device such as a radio. For this reason, the noise needs to be transmitted along a predetermined path and be grounded.
Accordingly, in the above-mentioned vehicle headlamps, a conductive member, such as a leaf spring member, is mounted at the rear end portion of the reflector having conductivity, an outer peripheral surface of the case forms the socket so as to have conductivity, and the conductive member and the outer peripheral surface of the case are connected to each other and grounded, while the connection portion of the socket is connected to a cap of the discharge lamp, thereby preventing an bad influence caused by the generation of noise.
Meanwhile, in the structure where the conductive member and the outer peripheral surface of the case of the socket are connected to each other for grounding as described above, the conductive member is positioned at the periphery of the case. Accordingly, the vehicle headlamp increases in size toward the periphery of the case, and thus size reduction of the vehicle headlamp is hindered.
In the vehicle headlamp described in JP-A-2005-302743, the high-voltage generator is disposed in the socket, and thus the socket in particular increases in size toward the periphery of the case. For this reason, it is difficult to reduce the size of the vehicle headlamp.


A system and method is disclosed for performing maintenance on a mission critical system while minimizing unavailability of the system to users. The system includes software storage having at least production and maintenance portions. Initially, the maintenance and production portions are set to be identical and the system is programmed to operate from the production portion. During maintenance operations, the system is taken off line and the maintenance is performed only on the maintenance portion, leaving the production portion unaltered. Until the maintenance is complete, if the system is required to be available, it may be brought back on-line and directed to continue to operate from the production portion. Once maintenance is complete, the maintenance portion is designated as the production portion and vice versa. The system is then directed to operate from the newly maintained production portion.

Mission critical systems include systems whose availability is vital to the accomplishment of a particular task or goal, such as medical/clinical systems, e.g. medical imaging systems, security systems, such as security screening systems, safety/security/monitoring systems, such as air traffic control systems, communications systems, data processing systems, manufacturing systems, etc.
Maintaining mission critical systems is a complex task. Often, such systems must be taken off line or out of production in order to perform maintenance, such as diagnostics, updates, upgrades, repairs or general upkeep, such as calibration. Where the particular maintenance process requires a significant amount of time to complete, this downtime represents, at the very least, an inconvenience to the users of those systems, and, in many cases, an unacceptable loss of availability of the system. Further, often maintenance processes encounter or reveal unexpected problems which may exacerbate the length of time that the system is unavailable.
In particular, such systems share the common characteristics of complexity, high cost, such as acquisition costs and/or resource/operating costs, and significant loss potential when they are unavailable. The complexity of these systems increases the necessity of maintenance, i.e. necessity of improvements or the likelihood of failure, makes such maintenance procedures non-trivial and increases the likelihood that longer periods of downtime will be needed for the particular procedure as well as increases the likelihood of downtime due to unexpected problems. For example, updates or upgrades to the operating software of a medical imaging device further requires ensuring the device is properly calibrated and functioning correctly to ensure the diagnostic reliability of the device.
Further, the potential for loss if the system were to be unavailable, e.g. the opportunity costs, such as lost revenue in a manufacturing environment, lost diagnostic capability or lost screening capability, can be significant for these devices, and in most cases, unacceptable. For example, if a security screening device fails in an airport, lost capacity or the reliance on alternative, but less reliable, screening methods may result in passenger delays and/or lessened security. Failure of a medical imaging device may delay treatment of life-threatening conditions.
In addition, the high acquisition cost and/or high operating resource costs, such as physical space requirements and/or geographic dispersion, operator cost, etc., of these systems makes providing redundancy impractical. Accordingly, providing a "back-up" system is typically not an option but for the most sensitive and urgent applications. Medical imaging devices, such as MRI scanners, security screening devices, such as explosives detectors, etc., are typically very expensive and very large devices. Providing redundant "back-up" systems to be used in case of the need for maintenance of the primary system would represent both a significant cost burden and a burden on physical space requirements in already-overcrowded airports or hospitals, etc. Further, for such expensive equipment, a back-up system would represent a significant waste of resources or opportunity cost, i.e. waste of a system which could otherwise be used to reduce wait times, increase revenues, etc. However, putting the "back-up" system into production then introduces the same maintenance/unavailability problems discussed above for the original as well as additional systems.
Accordingly, there is a need for a system and method of reducing the amount of time that a mission-critical system is unavailable while maintenance procedures are performed.

System and method for reduction of wait time for software updates


The present invention generally comprises a fixed bearing prosthesis and a mobile bearing prosthesis. The fixed bearing prosthesis comprises a tibial component, a femoral component and a meniscal component and addressees the loss of congruency during deep knee flexion and the possible direct, repetitive contact of the tibial and femoral components. The tibial component of the fixed bearing prosthesis includes a tibial platform having an anterior and posterior edge. The meniscal component of the fixed bearing prosthesis includes a posterior ridge overlapping the posterior edge of the tibial platform that prevents metal-to-metal contact during deep knee flexion. The mobile bearing prosthesis comprises generally a tibial component, a femoral component and a meniscal component addresses the lack of conformity to natural biomechanical movement. The tibial component comprises a tibial platform having a curved rail system designed to mimic the asymmetrical rotation of femoral rollback while simultaneously providing sufficient anterior-posterior translation.

Total knee prostheses can be divided into two general categories: fixed bearing and mobile bearing. Both the fixed and mobile bearing knee prosthesis includes a femoral component, a tibial component, and a meniscal component, or bearing, which is located between the femoral component and the tibial component. In the conventional fixed bearing prosthesis, the bearing is fixedly attached to the tibial component. In the conventional mobile bearing prosthesis, the bearing is allowed some limited range of symmetrical motion. The form of the prosthetic knee joint selected by the orthopedic surgeon depends upon the condition of the natural knee and the age, health and mobility of the patient.
Fixed bearing prostheses are generally indicated where there is severe damage to the femur and/or tibia or when neither the posterior nor anterior cruciate ligaments can be retained. The fixed bearing prosthesis generally does not allow correction for a misplacement in rotation on the tibial component and may contribute to accelerated wear of the bearing component due to high contact stresses. Congruency between the femoral and tibial articulating surfaces must be balanced to provide maximum contact area, which lowers the stresses on the bearing without constraining the normal movement of the femur on the tibia, which could result in high shear stress. During deep knee flexion, congruency may be lost resulting in direct, repetitive contact between the femoral and tibial components. Prior art fixed bearing prostheses have not addressed this concern.
Mobile bearing prostheses were developed in an effort to replicate the normal biomechanics of the natural knee joint and are generally indicated for patients who have adequate collateral ligament stability. Many prior art mobile bearing prostheses are limited to a simple rotation, which in some instances is coupled with constrained anterior-posterior translation. In these systems, the displacement of the lateral portion of the bearing component about the axis of rotation is generally symmetrical, which causes the femoral component to strike and erode the bearing component due to the asymmetrical characteristic of femoral rollback. Other prior art mobile bearing prostheses are limited to anterior-posterior translation in the absence of rotational misalignment correction, thus do not conform to natural biomechanical movement.
Accordingly, a fixed bearing prosthesis and a mobile bearing prosthesis are disclosed. The fixed bearing prosthesis comprises generally a tibial component, a femoral component and a meniscal component disposed between the tibial and femoral components and addressees the loss of congruency during deep knee flexion and the possible direct, repetitive contact of the tibial and femoral components. The tibial component of the fixed bearing prosthesis includes a tibial platform having an anterior and posterior edge. The meniscal component of the fixed bearing prosthesis includes a posterior ridge overlapping the posterior edge of the tibial platform that prevents metal-to-metal contact during deep knee flexion. The mobile bearing prosthesis comprises generally a tibial component, a femoral component and a meniscal component disposed between the tibial and femoral components and addresses the lack of conformity to natural biomechanical movement. The tibial component comprises a tibial platform having a curved rail system designed to mimic the asymmetrical rotation of femoral rollback while simultaneously providing sufficient anterior-posterior translation.


A method for providing guided navigation for personal transport devices is described. In one embodiment, the method includes providing a list of predetermined destinations associated with a geographic area, projecting directions to one or more of the destinations on a ground surface located in front of a personal transport device, and providing an option to a user of the personal transport device to select between at least two different destinations. A direction associated with each destination of the at least two destinations may be projected on the ground surface located in front of the personal transport device. The method also includes receiving an input from the user indicating a selection of one of the at least two different destinations and projecting directions to the selected destination on the ground surface located in front of the personal transport device to guide the user to the selected destination.

This disclosure relates generally to vehicles, and in particular to a system and method for providing guided navigation for personal transport devices.
With rising prices of gasoline and automobiles, many people may turn to other more cost efficient modes of transportation such as, for example, mopeds, bicycles, scooters and, more recently, personal transport devices, including electrified and non-electrified devices, such as stand-up electric scooters or kick scooters. These personal transport devices may be particularly popular for shorter trips in a city environment due to their compact size, ease of use, mobility, and the fact that they may be folded as needed for ease of portability. They may also be useful for covering the first mile or last mile of a trip which is the link between a user's origin or destination and another transportation means, hub or mass transit network.
Sometimes, users of personal transport devices may want to use the devices to explore an area to visit different tourist sites or other destinations. Conventional methods for renting personal transport devices do not include convenient mechanisms for these users to determine which sites to visit in a given area or a way to receive directions to reach those sites. Typically, users may often need to rely on their cellphone or other mobile device for navigation. This solution may be difficult for some users to manage while riding a personal transport device.
Accordingly, there is a need in the art for an improved system and method for providing guided navigation for personal transport devices.

Guided navigation for personal transport devices


A method described herein includes receiving a digital image, wherein the digital image includes a first element that corresponds to a first domain and a second element that corresponds to a second domain. The method also includes automatically assigning a label to the first element in the digital image based at least in part upon a computed probability that the label corresponds to the first element, wherein the probability is computed through utilization of a first model that is configured to infer labels for elements in the first domain and a second model that is configured to infer labels for elements in the second domain. The first model receives data that identifies learned relationships between elements in the first domain and elements in the second domain, and the probability is computed by the first model based at least in part upon the learned relationships.

Due at least in part to continuing evolution of technology and reduction in cost, digital cameras are extremely popular. For example, many portable cell phones are currently equipped with a digital camera. Digital cameras allow users to capture a relatively large amount of images over time and store them in a data repository of a computing device. Conventionally, these captured images are automatically organized based upon time that each respective image was captured. The owner of the images may manually provide names to images to provide an indication of content of images (e.g., who is in certain images, etc.).
Digital image organization applications are currently available that allow individuals to provide tags or labels to images. For instance, an individual may review an image and assign a tag thereto that indicates that a particular person is captured in the image. Thereafter, the individual may organize images based upon tags assigned to such images. In an example, if the individual wishes to be provided with all images that include a particular person, the individual can organize images by selecting a graphical icon that corresponds to the particular person. This can cause a collection of images to be presented to the individual, where each image in the collection includes the particular person.
While allowing users to tag images is a relatively effective mechanism for organizing images, tagging images in a large collection of images can be quite time consuming. Therefore, facial recognition applications have been incorporated into image organization applications to aid in automatically and/or semi-automatically tagging images based upon faces recognized in images. Generally, an image can be analyzed and features can be extracted therefrom that may pertain to identities of individuals in the image, such as eye color of an individual, color of clothing being worn, shape of a nose of an individual, amongst other features. Such features are provided to a mathematical model for facial recognition and the mathematical model is configured to output with a certain probability that a face in an image corresponds to a particular person. While utilizing the facial recognition application to aid in automatically tagging photos has been beneficial in connection with increasing efficiency of tagging images, accuracy of the facial recognition applications can be less than desired.

Image tagging based upon cross domain context


When an image is touched on a touch screen, the image is displayed as if a touched side of the image is pressed down and an opposite side of the touched side is lifted up. Priority levels of peripheral portions of the image are set in accordance with up and down of the image. Rendering priority between images to be overlapped is determined in accordance with a dominant-subordinate relationship between the priority levels of the peripheral portions of the respective images to be in contact. One of the images is displayed in an overlapped portion of the images based on the rendering priority.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to method and apparatus for editing layout of objects used for creating photobook or the like.
2. Description Related to the Prior Art
Software for taking images, captured with a digital camera, into a computer and creating photobook is known. The software for creating photobook is provided with a layout editing function for moving each image to a desired position on a display screen. An image is moved using an operation input device. The operation input device, for example, a mouse or a touch screen allows an operator intuitive operation.
In the layout editing, an object, for example, an image, to be moved is referred to as an "object". Rendering priority that is a front-back (top-bottom) relationship between objects to be overlapped is determined in the depth direction of the display screen before the objects are overlapped. When overlapped, the objects are rendered in an overlapped state in accordance with the rendering priority. Namely, rendering on the display screen is controlled such that the object with the highest rendering priority is displayed on top and the object(s) underneath the top object is not displayed in an overlapped portion of the objects. To change the rendering priority after the objects are moved and overlapped, the object whose rendering priority is to be changed is selected, and a command, for example, "move to front", "move to back", or "move to top" is executed.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,243,035 (corresponding to Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2010-33455) suggests a configuration in which the front-back relationship or rendering priority between the overlapped objects displayed on the touch screen is changed based on a difference in pressure between touch points (pressed points) corresponding to touch inputs onto the touch screen.
The above-described operation to change the rendering priority in the overlapped portion based on the command such as "move to front" or "move to back" is different from the intuitive operation using the mouse or the touch screen. The operation based on the command is complicated because a step for moving the object and a step for changing the rendering priority are separated. In the configuration using the difference in pressure as described in the U.S. Pat. No. 8,243,035, a mechanism for detecting pressure of a touch point on the display screen is necessary. This increases the number of parts and manufacturing cost. In addition, practice is necessary to control pressure of a touch point.

Method and apparatus for editing layout of objects