An encapsulated electronic package (10) is made by bonding one or more semiconductor devices or integrated circuits (16) to a printed circuit board with an adhesive (14), and covering with a glob top encapsulant (15). The printed circuit board has a metal circuit pattern (12) on one side, and, optionally, solder pads (27) on the second side. The glob top encapsulant covers the integrated circuit, portions of the metal circuit pattern, and portions of the printed circuit board surface. The printed circuit board, the adhesive, and the encapsulant are all made from the same type of resin. In the preferred embodiment of the invention, the resin used to make the printed circuit board, the adhesive, and the encapsulant is an organosilicon polymer comprised substantially of alternating polycyclic hydrocarbon residues and cyclic polysiloxane or siloxysilane residues linked through carbon-silicon bonds.

Electronic packaging technology has undergone dramatic changes during the past decade, driven by reliability, size and price considerations. Newer packaging technologies are competing with or replacing dual in-line packages (DIP) and plastic leaded chip carriers for single and multiple chip packaging. Several of these packaging methods include flip chip, chip on board, and tape automated bonding. All three methods involve the use of liquid encapsulants to protect the chip and the electrical interconnections from physical damage and ionic contamination. The encapsulants are dispensed to form a glob over the chip and the electrical interconnections, hence the term glob-top encapsulant. Glob-top encapsulation was originally introduced for consumer packages such as video games, but the demand for miniaturized circuitry led to the use of glob-top as the preferred assembly method for many types of products including smart credit cards, microprocessor circuitry, and complex hybrids. This encapsulation technology allows the manufacturer to make relatively thin devices, and many companies produce packages with cost equal to or less than conventional plastic packages.
Typical glob-top compositions include epoxy or silicone encapsulating resins which provide protection against corrosion, vibration and mechanical stresses. These resins have achieved a high degree of popularity because the dispensing process can be easily automated, high yields are obtainable, and material costs are low. Stringent performance specifications are required for microelectronic encapsulations to insure that no physical or electrical degradation of the device occurs. The purpose of an encapsulant is to protect the chip and fragile wire bonds. An encapsulant should not create unusual stresses during thermal cycling, and it should protect the chip from mechanical shock, moisture, and various chemicals. Matching the coefficient of thermal expansion to the substrate and the chip is critical for long term dimensional stability and proper sealing of leads to prevent penetration of moisture and ionic contaminants. Encapsulants must have low moisture absorption and be of high purity, i.e., a low level of ionic contaminants such as lithium, sodium, potassium, and chlorine ions. This is very important because ionic contaminants can result in corrosion of chip metallizations under conditions of high humidity.
The application of glob top encapsulation for integrated circuit (IC) packaging protection has been limited to low end consumer electronic applications because of the inferior environmental performance of this type of package compared to molded or ceramic packages. Conventional technology uses one type of resin for the printed circuit board (typically a thermoset polyimide), a second type of resin for the die attach adhesive (typically a novalac-modified bisphenol/epichlorhydrin-based epoxy and a conductive filler), and a third type of resin for the glob top encapsulant (typically a silicone-modified epoxy resin or a silicone resin). Differences in the physical and electrical properties of the diverse materials used in the printed circuit board, the adhesive, and the encapsulant result in poor adhesion of the adhesive and encapsulant to the printed circuit board, and moisture absorption through the encapsulant into the adhesive. This creates dielectric shifts and corrosion, resulting in poor electrical performance of the package. Overmolded pin grid array and ceramic pin grid array packages are the alternatives for high performance applications, but these types of packages are more expensive than glob top. The popularity of integrated circuit chips packaged in glob-top requires a solution that will provide the environmental performance and reliability found in the more expensive packages.
Clearly a glob top package which could provide the cost and size advantages of glob top with the environmental performance advantages of ceramic or molded packages would be desirous.


An apparatus comprising a first circuit and a second circuit. The first circuit may be configured to generate a decoded video signal. The second circuit may be configured to generate (i) a first video output signal having a first resolution and (ii) a second video signal having a second video resolution in response to the decoded video signal.

Conventional video displays (e.g., televisions, monitors, etc.) can include a cathode ray tube (CRT). CRT displays generally present a picture or video image via a raster created by horizontal and vertical scanning of an electron beam. Although the exact number of scans per second and the methods of scanning can vary, the basic scanning arrangement is almost universally implemented. The image on a CRT display is formed by fine lines that are generated by moving the electron beam rapidly from left to right and back to left, while simultaneously moving the electron beam gradually downward. When the electron beam reaches the bottom of the screen, the beam returns to the top of the screen. The left-to-right and downward motions occur with the electron beam controlled by picture or video information, while the right-to-left motion (e.g., horizontal retrace, or flyback) and the vertical motion (e.g., vertical retrace), are performed with the electron beam off (or blanked).
Referring to FIG. 1, a diagram illustrating an analog video signal 10 is shown. The analog video signal 10 has an active portion and an inactive portion. The active portion contains the picture information (or image) to be displayed (e.g., visible lines). The inactive portion generally does not contain any video information. The inactive portion generally includes synchronization and blanking information (e.g., horizontal and vertical) that allows the electron gun to perform the horizontal and vertical retraces. For example, the inactive portion of the analog video signal 10 has a vertical blanking period 12 (for each field in an interlaced image or frame in a non-interlaced image) and a horizontal blanking period 14 (for each field/frame line).
Referring to FIG. 2, a diagram illustrating a video image 20 is shown. The video image 20 has an active region (or area) 22. The remainder of the image 20 is an inactive region (or area). When a digital video signal is to be converted to an analog video signal, the digital signal generally comprises the entire picture to be presented, including the horizontal and vertical blanking intervals (i.e., the inactive area).
In conventional systems, a portion of the active region 22 of the video image 20 is overscan. The overscan portion allows the image 20 to fill the entire viewable area (e.g., on consumer monitors and televisions). The overscan portion can contain actual image data. However, the overscan portion generally falls outside the viewable area of the screen.
When a digital video decoder is connected to a video digital-to-analog converter (DAC), the signal exchanged between the two devices is a sampled version of the entire picture (i.e., luminance (Y) and chrominance (Cr and Cb) components interleaved) The sampling rate (i.e., samples/line) as well as the number of active and inactive lines typically conform to a predefined standard (e.g., NTSC, PAL, etc.) that allows for interoperability of various devices.
Standard scanning formats currently in use include standard-definition (SD) video signals (i.e., 480i, where i indicates a frame comprises two interlaced fields) and high-definition (HD) video signals (i.e., 1080i and 720p, where p indicates a progressive scan or non-interlaced image). The number of high-definition television (HDTV) sets is growing. However, a large installed base of standard definition (SD) equipment is still available.
It would be desirable to have an apparatus and/or method for simultaneous display of video at two resolutions with different fractions of active regions.

Device for simultaneous display of video at two resolutions with different fractions of active regions


A photographic lens and a photographic apparatus including the same are provided. The photographic lens includes a first lens including a convex surface toward an object side and having a positive refractive power, a second lens including a concave surface toward an image side and having a negative refractive power, a third lens having a positive refractive power or a negative refractive power, a fourth lens having a positive refractive power or a negative refractive power, a fifth lens including a convex surface toward the image side and having a positive refractive power, and a sixth lens including a concave aspherical shape with respect to an optical axis toward the image side and having a negative refractive power. The first to sixth lenses may be sequentially arranged from the object side to the image side.

1. Field
Various embodiments of the invention relate to a bright photographic lens capable of providing high definition images and a photographic apparatus including the same.
2. Related Art
Photographic apparatuses generally use solid state imaging devices, such as charge-coupled device (CCD) type image sensors and complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) type image sensors. Photographic apparatuses include digital still cameras, video cameras, and interchangeable lens cameras. Also, since they have reduced in size, recently, photographic apparatuses using solid state imaging devices are applied to small information terminals such as mobile phones. Users need high performance such as high resolution and wide angles of view. Also, users' expertise with respect to cameras has gradually increased. Also, needs for photographic lenses including bright lenses and capable of providing out focusing performance (i.e., an effect of blurring a background) have increased.
For example, lenses for mobile phone cameras generally use sensors of from ⅕″ to ⅓″ according to a reduction in prices of sensors and miniaturization, and general sensors for main lenses on the market have sizes of ¼″ or ⅓″.
When micro sensors are used in optical systems using solid state imaging devices, since a focal length is short, a great depth of field is provided. This is appropriate for taking pictures of scenery but is inappropriate for taking pictures of people.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Photographic lens and photographic apparatus using the same


A device for rolling up a sheet of paper into a roll and then ejecting the formed roll from the device, which includes: a frame, a first sheet drive, a second sheet drive and a first guide, the first sheet drive, second sheet drive and first guide defining a roll-forming space with respective first, second and third contact points at the periphery of the roll to be formed in the space with the first sheet drive, second sheet drive and the first guide, the roll-forming space having a center with connecting lines between the contact points forming a triangle in which the center is situated, wherein the first and second contact points are fixed, relative to the frame, and the third contact point defined by the first guide is displaceable from the roll-forming space in order to follow the increase in diameter of the roll during its formation, and the first guide is further displaceable to a position which defines an opening for ejecting a roll formed in the roll-forming space.

The present invention relates to a device for rolling up a paper web and ejecting the formed roll. More particularly, the present invention relates to a device intended for rolling up image-bearing sheets which have just been produced by copying or printing, e.g. constructional or building drawings, which are of relatively considerable length, of more than about 0.5 meter. The device of the present invention is disposed on the outlet side of a suitable (re)production machine in order to receive the sheet in web form, roll it up, frequently without a core and possibly provide it with an anti-unroll means, and eject it into a receiving tray.
A roll-up device known from U.S. Pat. No. 5,466,328 comprises a sheet feed with a top guide and a bottom guide and two drive rollers which form a nip, the sheet feed emerging into a roll-forming space defined by three arcuate guides, one of which forms the continuation of the top guide. Three roller assemblies are also provided at the periphery of the roll-forming space, two at the bottom and one at the top, and they extend inwardly between the arcuate guides and are driven in order in turn to move a fed sheet around in the roll-forming space. When the sheet has been completely rolled up, the bottom two drive roller assemblies with the guide extending between them are swung away so that the roll-forming space forms an ejection opening at the bottom, from which the roll can drop down into a receiving tray. For the pivoting of the bottom drive roller assemblies, and hence also at least a part of the drive mechanism for these rollers, a relatively complex and space-occupying construction is required, which can result in malfunctioning of the roll-up device. During the forming of the roll, the diameter of the roll-forming space in the known roll-up device is determined by the gripper surfaces of the drive roller assemblies, which are disposed at fixed points during the roll-up process. This results in constraints on the dimensions of the sheet rolls which can be made with this device.
A simpler roll-up device is known from German Patent Application 43 38 146. This roll-up device comprises a roll-forming space defined by two drive roller assemblies situated diametrically above and opposite one another and two arcuate guides which are also disposed diametrically opposite one another and which extend substantially along the periphery between the drive rollers. One arcuate guide and the bottom drive roller assembly are disposed at fixed points. The other, top drive roller assembly is so mounted in the frame that it can move in a radially outward and upward direction. The other, pivotable guide can also be pivoted away for this purpose after the first coil of the roll has been completed. As a result, during formation, the roll has the opportunity of increasing in size while the sheet drive and guidance continue. After the roll is complete, an adhesive strip is fed over the fixed roller assembly in order to close the formed roll, and with the guide completely swung away an ejection opening is freed for the roll. By only driving the bottom roller assembly at the fixed point, the roll is forced out of the roll-forming space and can drop into a receiving tray. With this roll-up device as well, additional steps are required to make a drive roller assembly movable.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,011,093 discloses a roll-up device in which the roll-forming space is bounded at the top by a fixed arcuate guide provided with a number of freely rotating rollers for reducing the friction. At the bottom, the roll-forming space is defined by a comparable arcuate guide which, however, is pivotable so that it can be swung away after the rolling process in order to free an ejection opening for the roll. Also, this bottom guide is so suspended from the top guide that it can yield, to a limited degree, against the spring force to follow an increase in the size of the roll during formation. At one end the bottom guide is also provided with a drive roller driven by a freely rotating roller disposed in the sheet feed path and itself driven by a driven roller with which this roller forms a nip. One disadvantage of this roll-up device is that when the bottom guide yields during the formation of the roll, the degree of engagement between the drive roller and the freely rotating roll is changed. Steps must also be taken to enable the drive roller to be moved away from the freely rotating roll during the pivoting away of the bottom guide. As a result of the reduced degree to which the bottom guide can yield, the lengths of sheets for rolling are also limited, with lengths of 1.5 to 3 meters being referred to.
There is a need for a simple roll-up device capable of reliably rolling up a wide variety of relatively considerable lengths (e.g. from 0.5 to 10 meters) of image-bearing sheets, such as copy sheets and drawings. The sheet should be permanently driven at the roll periphery during the rolling-up process and the roll should have space to increase in size.


A transporter for foldable tents is provided. The transporter comprises a case and a transport device for folded-up tents. The case is connected to an L-profile. The L-profile comprises a vertical plate and a horizontal plate. The horizontal plate engages below the tent while the vertical plate is releasably connected to the case. The tent is rigidly held together by way of a strip which extends around the tent in a horizontal plane. Generally, two wheels are used for the transport. The wheels are provided at two sides of the transporter. The wheels may be kept in a chamber near the very top of the case. The packed tent is pulled or pushed in a slanted position. The transporter allows the foldable tent to be transported and stored easily. Also, the erection and packing of the tent may be accomplished by only a single person.

A type of foldable tent is described in EP-A-0′514'574. This type of foldable tent may be used for a range of applications. The foldable tents may be used as party tents for gardens, market tents for protecting goods from the sun and the rain, or exhibition tents for accommodating goods and advertising material.
Such tents are mostly stored in a long carrying bag and carried to a set-up location. Depending on the size of the tent and the distance to be covered, the carrying of such tents may be very strenuous. Since the weight of such tents varies from 25 to 50 kilograms, carrying such a tent in a carrying bag, for example, to an exhibition hall located some distance away from a parking area may be extremely strenuous. The weight of the tents is especially a burdensome to persons with back ailments.
Such tents are also useful for occasions with many guests, such as a wedding in a garden. For such an occasion, many tents may need to be transported from one location to the other and it is often very strenuous to carry the tents from a delivery vehicle to the set-up location in a carrying bag.
To set up a tent stored in a carrying bag, the zipper or the VELCRO strip must first be actuated before removing the tent from the bag, and only after then may the tent be erected. Also, the tent needs to be turned by 180° so that both ends of the tent may be removed from the carrying bag one after the other. Since the tent is relatively heavy and lengthy (1.50 m), this turning procedure is quite strenuous.
It is therefore desirable to provide a transporter for a foldable tent that may be easily assembled and disassembled, and that allows the tent to be erected by only one person.


A press belt with occurrence of pinholes remarkably reduced as well as a manufacturing method of the press belt are provided. The press belt includes a reinforcing base material containing multifilaments that are impregnated with a bundling agent and an elastic material in which the reinforcing base material is buried. The manufacturing method is a method of manufacturing the aforementioned press belt. The reinforcing base material is preferably made of a woven fabric and the bundling agent preferably contains as its main component thermosetting resin. As the bundling agent, a bundling agent containing as its main component urethane-based resin is suitably used. For the reinforcing base material, organic fibers are preferably used. The bundling agent is preferably applied in the form of emulsion to the multifilaments or the reinforcing base material.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a press belt that is used in such industries as papermaking, magnetic-recording-medium manufacturing and textile for applying pressure to workpieces to be pressed, with reduced occurrence of pinholes, and to a method of manufacturing the press belt.
2. Description of the Background Art
In various types of industries, a belt press process is generally used in which a continuous workpiece to be pressed is placed on a press belt and the workpiece is pressurized between one pressure member positioned inside the periphery of the press belt and the other pressure member positioned outside the periphery of the press belt. As the pressure members, a press roll and a pressure shoe for example are used.
One form of the belt press is for example shoe press that is employed as dewatering press in the papermaking industry. With the aforementioned shoe press, in order to improve the efficiency of dewatering wet paper, to a workpiece to be pressed (wet paper) placed on the outer peripheral surface of a press belt, plane pressure is applied for pressurizing (dewatering) the workpiece via the press belt between a press roll used as external pressure means positioned outside the periphery of the press belt and a pressure shoe used as internal pressure means positioned inside the periphery of the press belt. The pressure shoe used has a predetermined width in the running direction (of the workpiece to be pressed), and thus the nip width can be increased to improve dewatering efficiency.
A press belt has generally been used that is made of a reinforcing base material and thermosetting polyurethane integrated and shaped into an endless belt. As the reinforcing base material, a woven fabric is commonly used that is constructed of multifilaments and monofilaments, the multifilaments each being a bundle of many filaments of small fineness for adding strength.
An elastic belt for papermaking is manufactured by providing an elastic material cast on the surface of a reinforcing base material. Generally, in the process of manufacturing, a resin layer to constitute the inner surface is formed, the base material is reversed and thereafter a resin layer to constitute the outer surface is formed. Multifilaments are apt to hold air therein because of its construction. Therefore, in the process of forming the resin layer to constitute the outer surface, if resin of the outer surface is cast while the multifilaments still hold air therein, the air in the multifilaments can escape nowhere to enter the resin of the outer surface. Air babbles flowing into the resin layer which is cured to a certain extent cannot flow out of the resin layer and thus remain in the resin layer. Accordingly, the resultant product, namely press belt has pinholes left therein. The presence of the pinholes deteriorates the external appearance and causes such a problem as the one that cracks originate from the pinholes.
Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 4-119191 for example proposes a method, with the purpose of preventing occurrence of pinholes, to form an intermediate elastic layer on at least one surface of a base fabric layer and form a surface elastic layer on the outside of the intermediate elastic layer. This method can considerably reduce occurrence of pinholes since it can expel, in the process of forming the intermediate layer, air in gaps between constituent yarns of the base fabric layer. However, it has been difficult, when a base fabric containing multifilaments is used, to prevent air babbles flowing out of the multifilaments.
Further, Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2002-146694 discloses a belt for papermaking that is structured by burying a reinforcing base material in thermosetting polyurethane, and proposes a method according to which polyurethane that constitutes the outer peripheral surface is made of a composite of a urethane polymer having isocyanate terminal groups and a curing agent containing dimethylthiotoluenediamine.
Using this method, a belt for papermaking can be produced while hindering growth of opened cracks and reducing occurrence of interlayer peeling between the reinforcing base material and the polyurethane.
Regarding the above-discussed methods of Japanese Patent Laying-Open Nos. 4-119191 and 2002-146694, however, the effect of reducing occurrence of pinholes due to gaps in multifilaments can further be improved.

Press belt and manufacturing method thereof


Magnetoresistive material exhibiting a large ratio of resistance on the application of a low magnetic field applied at room temperature to the material. The material is composed of layers made primarily from Co with a thickness of 10-100.ANG., a second magnetic layer having a thickness of 10-100.ANG., both of which layers are alternately laminated through a non-magnetic layer composed mainly of copper having a thickness of about 20.ANG..

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to magnetoresistive materials for magnetoresistance (MR) heads, sensors or the like.
2. Description of the Related Art
Magnetoresistance sensors (hereinafter referred to as MR sensors) and magnetoresistance type heads (hereinafter referred to as MR heads) using magnetoresistive elements have been under development up to now. Permalloys of Ni.sub.0.8 Fe.sub.0.2 are primarily used for the magnetic bodies. However, the ratio of resistance change (hereinafter referred to as .DELTA.R/R) of these materials is approximately 2.5%. To obtain magnetoresistive elements having greater sensitivity, elements having a large .DELTA.R/R are required. A Ni-Co alloy film containing 60 to 80 atomic % of Ni is available as one of these elements. Even if this film is used, the value of .DELTA.R/R is approximately 5.8% at maximum.
It was discovered recently that a large magnetoresistance occurs when using a Fe/Cr, artificial superlattice film (Physical Review Letter Vol. 61, p2472, 1988). With this material, however, a large .DELTA.R/R cannot be obtained unless a magnetic field of more than 10 kOe is applied. Therefore it is difficult to put this film into practical use.
There was a report that a resistance change of about 10% as regards (when applying a magnetic field of 3 kOe) .DELTA.R/R was observed, by using an ultra-high vacuum deposition apparatus, on an artificial superlattice film composed of a Ni.sub.0.8 Fe.sub.0.2 (30.ANG.)/Cu(50.ANG.)/Co(30.ANG.)/Cu(50.ANG.).times.15 layers (Preliminary Manuscript, Applied Physical Society Meeting, Autumn, 1990). However, there are problems in that a high-cost ultra-high vacuum deposition apparatus is required to produce films and also a large .DELTA.R/R cannot be obtained unless a large magnetic field of approximately 3 kOe is applied.

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.


A descriptor queue composed of descriptors containing input address information that represents an address for storing data to be processed and output address information that represents an address for storing processed data is constructed and stored in a memory. A stream processor for performing a plurality of processes parallel to each other on the data to be processed acquires a descriptor from the memory, reads data to be processed from the memory according to the input address information contained in the descriptor, processes the data, and stores the processed data back into the memory according to the output address information contained in the descriptor.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus, and more particularly to an information processing apparatus having a processor dedicated to performing a particular processing sequence.
2. Description of the Related Art
Information processing apparatus available in recent years are finding growing use because of their increasing processing capability. The information processing apparatus are required to carry out more sophisticated processing operation or to process large amounts of data such as still image data and moving image data at higher speeds. According to one known solution, an information processing apparatus has a DSP (Digital Signal Processor) separate from a host processor and dedicated to performing a particular processing sequence such as a still image processing sequence or a moving image processing sequence. A conventional information processing apparatus having such a DSP is illustrated in FIG. 1 of the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 shows in block form an information processing apparatus disclosed in Japanese laid-open patent publication No. H05-204828.
As shown in FIG. 1, the conventional information processing apparatus has host processor 101, DSP 102, DSP instruction memory 105 for temporarily storing instructions to be supplied to DSP 102, DSP data memory 106 for temporarily storing data to be processed or data processed by DSP 102, host system memory 103 for storing data to be processed and data processed by host processor 101 and DSP 102, and DMA controller 107 for controlling the transmission of data and instructions to and the reception of data and instructions from DSP 102.
Host processor 101 and host system memory 103 are connected to each other by system bus 104, and DSP 102, DSP instruction memory 105, and DSP data memory 106 are connected to each other by DMA bus 108. Host processor 101 and DSP 102 are connected to each other for exchanging data and instructions by DMA controller 107 which provides a link between system bus 104 and DMA bus 108.
In the information processing apparatus shown in FIG. 1, since DSP 102 performs a particular processing sequence, the processing burden on host processor 101 is reduced. In addition, DSP 102 has a shorter processing time than host processor 101 because DSP 102 is dedicated to performing a particular process for which DSP 102 is designed.
If host processor 101 asks DSP 102 to perform a certain process, host processor 101 sends DSP 102 a "data transfer packet request list" including addresses of host system memory 103 where data to be processed are stored, addresses of DSP data memory 106 where the data are to be stored, and information representing the data size. When DSP 102 receives the "data transfer packet request list", DSP 102 extracts the addresses of host system memory 103, the addresses of DSP data memory 106, and the information representing the data size from the "data transfer packet request list". Based on the extracted addresses and the data size, DSP 102 activates DMA controller 107 and controls DMA controller 107 to read the data whose size has been indicated from the addresses of host system memory 103 and sends the read data by way of DMA transfer to the addresses of DSP data memory 106. DSP 102 then performs a programmed process on the data transferred to DSP data memory 106 according to instructions stored in DSP instruction memory 105, for example, and stores the processed data back into DSP data memory 106.
When the process is over, DSP 102 activates DMA controller 107, sends the processed data through DMA controller 107 to host system memory 103, and stores the processed data back into host system memory 103, based on another "data transfer packet request list".
For further improving the processing capability, the above information processing apparatus may additionally have a plurality of subprocessors including microprocessors, DSPs, etc. for performing a plurality of processing sequences parallel to each other. However, the information processing apparatus with the subprocessors is unable to keep the order of input data supplied to the subprocessors and the order of output data received from the subprocessors equal to each other.
For example, a DSP performs a process on each item of input data in the order in which the data are input, and outputs the processed data in the order in which they are processed. In the conventional information processing apparatus with one DSP as shown in FIG. 1, therefore, processed data may be received in the order in which the data are transferred to the DSP, and the host processor can associate the input data and the output data with each other.
If an information processing apparatus has a plurality of DSPs as subprocessors and the DSPs have different processing times that are required to process data, then DSPs having shorter processing times output processed data earlier, so that the order of input data supplied to the DSPs and the order of output data received from the DSPs are different from each other. Accordingly, the information processing apparatus with plural DSPs needs some scheme for managing an association between the input data and the output data in order to recognize which input data have produced processed output data.
If a complex hardware arrangement or increased complex processing is required in order to manage an association between the input data and output data, then it will offset the increase that is achieved in the processing capability of the information processing apparatus by performing a plurality of processes parallel to each other. Therefore, for performing a plurality of processes parallel to each other using subprocessors, it is desirable to construct a system for transferring data to the subprocessors highly efficiently, minimizing information required for management, and eliminating wasteful response wait times due to conflicts between the subprocessors and the CPU.


An apparatus and method for providing security against intrusion in the managed devices of a campus LAN network is provided. A managed hub discovers each interconnect device in the network that supports the security feature and maintains an interconnect device list of such devices, which may include token ring switches, Ethernet switches, bridges and routers. The managed hub detects an intrusion by an unauthorized address on one of its ports and notifies the interconnect devices of the intrusion by transmitting a security breach detected frame. After each interconnect device sets a filter on its respective ports against the intruding unauthorized address and sends a filter set frame to the managed hub, the port in the managed hub where the security intrusion occurred is reenabled.

This invention relates in general to computer network security systems and in particular to systems and methods for detecting and preventing intrusion into a campus local area network by an unauthorized user.
As local area networks (LANS) continue to proliferate, and the number of personal computers (PCs) connected to LANs continue to grow at a rapid pace, network security becomes an ever increasing problem for network administrators. As the trend of deploying distributed LANs continues, this provides multiple access points to an enterprise's network. Each of these distributed access points, if not controlled, is a potential security risk to the network.
To further illustrate the demand for improved network security, an IDC report on network management, "LAN Management: The Pivotal Role of Intelligent Hubs", published in 1993, highlighted the importance of network security to LAN administrators. When asked the importance of improving management of specific LAN devices, 75% of the respondents stated network security is very important. When further asked about the growing importance of network security over the next three years, many respondents indicated that it would increase in importance.
More recently, a request for proposal from the U.S. Federal Reserve specified a requirement that a LAN hub must detect an unauthorized station at the port level and disable the port within a 10-second period. Although this requirement will stop an intruder, there is an inherent weakness in this solution in that it only isolates the security intrusion to the port of entry. The rest of the campus network is unaware of an attempted break-in. The detection of the unauthorized station and the disabling of the port is the first reaction to a security intrusion, but many significant enhancements can be made to provide a network-wide security mechanism. Where the above solution stops at the hub/port level, this invention provides significant enhancements to solving the problem of network security by presenting a system wide solution to detecting and preventing security intrusions in a campus LAN environment.
In today's environment, network administrators focus their attention on router management, hub management, server management, and switch management, with the goals of ensuring network up time and managing growth (capacity planning). Security is often an afterthought and at best administrators get security as a by-product of employing other device functions. For example, network administrators may set filters at router, switch, or bridge ports for performance improvements and implicitly realize some level of security as a side effect since the filters control the flow of frames to LAN segments.
The problem with using filters is that their primary focus is on performance improvements, by restricting the flow of certain types of network traffic to specified LAN segments. The filters do not indicate how many times the filter has actually been used and do not indicate a list of the media access control (MAC) addresses that have been filtered. Therefore, filters do not provide an adequate detection mechanism against break-in attempts.
Another security technique that is commonly employed in hubs is intrusion control. There are token ring and Ethernet managed hubs that allow a network administrator to define, by MAC address, one or more authorized users per hub port. If an unauthorized MAC address is detected at the hub port, then the port is automatically disabled. The problem with this solution is that prevention stops at the hub and no further action is taken once the security intrusion has been detected. This solution does not provide a network-centric, system-wide solution. It only provides a piecemeal solution for a particular type of network hardware namely, the token ring and Ethernet managed hubs. The result is a fragmented solution, where security may exist for some work groups that have managed hubs installed, but not for the entire campus network. At best, the security detection/prevention is localized to the hub level and no solution exists for a network-wide solution.
Other attempts to control LAN access have been done with software program products. For example, IBM Corporation's Lan Network Management (LNM) products LNM for OS2 and LNM for AIX both provide functions called access control to token ring LANs. There are several problems with these solutions. One problem with both of these solutions is that it takes a long time to detect that an unauthorized station has inserted into the ring. An intruder could have ample time to compromise the integrity of a LAN segment before LNM could take an appropriate action. Another problem with the LNM products is that once an unauthorized MAC address has been detected, LNM issues a remove ring station MAC frame. Although this MAC frame removes the station from the ring, it does not prevent the station from reinserting into the ring and potentially causing more damage. Because these products do not provide foolproof solutions, and significant security exposure still exists, they do not provide a viable solution to the problem of network security for campus LAN environments.
Thus, there is a need for a mechanism in the managed devices of a computer network that enables a comprehensive solution and that not only provides for detection of security intrusions, but also provides the proactive actions needed to stop the proliferation of security intrusions over the domain of an entire campus network.

Managed network device security method and apparatus

International Business Machines Corporation


A computer receives a heartbeat message that includes both program reset information and at least one segment, of the heartbeat message, that is configured to indicate whether or not a first program is functioning correctly. The computer determines if the heartbeat message includes the indication that the first program is functioning correctly. If the computer determines that the heartbeat message indicates that the first program is functioning correctly, then the computer sends a data stream to the first program.

There are a wide variety of software systems that process a stream of network data. Some examples of software systems of this type include: optimizing a video data stream for a particular end device such as a smartphone that cannot display a 1080p video stream, inserting advertising into a HTTP flow between a device and a server, compressing data, optimizing HTML, etc. In all of these examples, if the application processing the stream fails, it is a reasonable thing to do to just bypass the application, passing the network flow on either without the "value" that the application adds or to have that value added by another application or system element.
In hierarchical container-based software systems, if an application fails, then two actions are typically taken. First, the data being supplied to the application is stopped or re-directed. Second, the application is recovered (e.g. restarted), if possible. There is a well known pattern for managing recovery in hierarchical software systems. The recovery (restart) should to be managed through the hierarchical container relationship. That is to say that the application server should attempt to restart the application. If the application server is unable to restart the application, then a reasonable recovery action would be to restart the application server. If that fails, the next container in the hierarchy should restart. And so the pattern of escalation of the failure escalates through the hierarchy.

Monitoring hierarchical container-based software systems