Network processes within a group of network processes are configured to share stack space by controlling when a context switch may be performed between processes in the group. Since a context switch will not be performed between group members during execution of the event loop, the dedicated stack requirements of the process are limited to that required to store state information when the process is idling on a select function. This reduces system stack requirements by allowing a large portion of the stack to be shared by multiple network processes without creating unintended dependencies between the processes. A semaphore may be used to control access to the shared stack space to prevent unintended context switches between group members. If there is more than one group of processes, the operating system may perform context switches between processes in different groups since each group has its own dedicated area of shared stack.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to network devices and, more particularly, to a method and apparatus for enabling multiple threads and processes to share a stack on a network device.
2. Description of the Related Art
Data communication networks may include various computers, servers, nodes, routers, switches, hubs, proxies, and other devices coupled to and configured to pass data to one another. These devices will be referred to herein as "network devices." Data is communicated through the data communication network by passing data packets (or cells, frames, or segments) between the network devices by utilizing one or more communication links. A particular packet may be handled by multiple network devices and cross multiple communication links as it travels between its source and its destination over the network.
A network device, like a computer, has a basic set of instructions collectively referred to as the operating system. This operating system provides a number of features to allow application programs to share the resources of the network device. Applications running on a network device will share access to the CPU. Information associated with the application is stored in three areas of memory: the code space, the data space, and the stack space. The code space includes the instructions that make up the process or thread as loaded into memory by the operating system. The data space is the area of memory set aside for the process or thread for temporary storage during execution. The stack space is the portion of the memory that stores the state of execution of the program in the event that execution is interrupted. As used herein, a "process" does not normally share data with any other process, whereas a "thread" may share data with a set of related threads.
To enable multiple processes/threads to execute simultaneously on a single CPU, the CPU will allocate a certain percentage of the total available CPU time to each of the various competing processes/threads. The job of assigning time to application programs is called scheduling. There are numerous method for scheduling programs, the simplest of which is a round robin approach in which the total CPU time is divided equally among the number of contending applications. Other more elaborate schemes involve the use of priority schemes so that a number, or priority level, is assigned to applications to enable certain applications to obtain increased amounts of CPU time.
The operating system implements the scheduling schema by interrupting an application that is currently running, storing the state of the current application in a dedicated area of the stack, retrieving the state of the next application from a separate area of the stack, and restoring the retrieved state so that the new application can start executing where it last left off. The process of interrupting the current process and restoring the new process will be referred to herein as a context switch.
The stack is used to store program register values at the point of the function call and also to provide temporary storage to these functions. The stack space typically grows as a process or thread recursively calls deeper and deeper into the program. Temporary, incomplete results from one level are kept on hold in the stack while sub-results are computed and returned. In order for the CPU to perform a context switch at an arbitrary point during execution of the process, the operating system must ensure that the state of the interrupted process is able to be preserved at every arbitrary point. This requires the CPU or process to reserve a worst-case stack. In the context of a network device, each process may require from 10 Kbytes to many Mbytes of stack space.
A network device may, at any given point, have dozens or hundreds of processes enabled, each of which is contending for access to the CPU. Since each process will allocate a worst case stack, a system executing thousands of processes/threads may require between several hundred of megabytes and several gigabytes of stack space. Thus, availability of physical memory may start to limit the number of processes/threads that can be run on the network device.
Network devices, such as edge routers and other routers running on the network, are increasingly being required to run more and more processes to provide enhanced services on the network. For example, to increase network security, it is desirable to isolate networks from each other. Complete isolation would ensure complete privacy, but also requires each network to have its own network components such as routers and dedicated lines. As it is economically unfeasible for most users to build an entire network, the concept of virtual routing has been developed. Specifically, instead of providing each network user with a separate network, a virtual router (VR) is provisioned in the network device serving that user. The virtual router, since it does not share data, code or stack space with other virtual routers, is virtually isolated even though the actual physical network device may be used by many other networks and users. A Virtual Private Network (VPN), formed by encapsulating and/or encrypting transmissions passed through the virtual router may be provisioned through the virtual router to provide a private link through an otherwise public network.
As VPNs and virtual routers become more popular, Internet access routers and other edge network devices are being required to be capable of hosting large numbers of virtual routers. Likewise, routers within the network may be required to handle multiple flows, each of which may be handled by a separate virtual router for redundancy reasons or to facilitate setup of virtual channels or other logical constructs through the network. Accordingly, a network device may need to run hundreds or thousands of processes or threads, each of which requires dedicated stack space. As the number of processes increases, the amount of physical memory required to accommodate the stack allocations of these processes may become excessive.
One attempt to address this issue was to use a common process and handle all instances (via events) in the same process. Since events are able to share stack space, the amount of stack space required to implement the events is much lower than the amount required to implement the same number of processes. One problem with this is that, since events share memory space, a virtual router, if instantiated as a set of events within a common process, is not totally isolated from other virtual routers on the network device. Thus, this solution compromises security. Another problem with this proposed solution is that an incorrect memory access in any one of the events may cause the process to terminate, thus terminating all other events as well. This interdependency enables a minor failure to cause the network device to interrupt service to many end users by effectively requiring the re-instantiation of multiple virtual routers and, potentially, the VPNs configured through them.
Another attempt to reduce memory requirements is to construct the applications such that two or more processes can share stack space. While this is possible in certain circumstances, it is difficult to do this because it is necessary to carefully integrate event loops from both applications into a single loop which selects and dispatches the union of all events in the system. This labor intensive exercise, while potentially feasible when a small number of processes are involved, becomes prohibitively complex as the number of processes increases.

Method and apparatus for sharing stack space between multiple processes in a network device


The present invention comprises an apparatus and a method for using multiple scanning probes to deconvolve tip artifacts in scanning probe microscopes and other scanning probe systems. The invention uses multiple scanning probe tips of different geometries or orientations to scan a feature, such as a semiconductor line or trench, and to display the scan data such that tip artifacts from each tip can be omitted from the measurement by data from the other tips.

1. Field of Invention
This invention generally relates to scanning probe microscopy (SPM) and, more specifically, the use of multiple scanning probes to deconvolve probe tip artifacts.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the semiconductor industry, device densities have been continuously increasing. To support this increase in density the devices and all supporting structure must become proportionately smaller. The ability to control semiconductor processes often relies on the ability to measure increasingly small features, such as lines, trenches, pits and plugs. As these features become smaller the features become increasingly more difficult to measure.
The prior art contains many different techniques to achieve this measurement. Optical techniques using visible light such as the creation of a diffraction pattern or use of a spectroscope were effective at large semiconductor device geometries and are well covered in the prior art. However, as device geometries shrank past the wavelength of visible light, these techniques were no longer able to successfully make the needed measurements.
Charged beam techniques, such as scanning electron microscopy (SEM) or focused ion beam (FIB) instruments are another way to achieve the desired measurements. These tools have some drawbacks, such as requiring vacuum and exposing the sample to charged beams, but they have the resolution to make the needed measurements. However, for features with near-vertical, vertical or reentrant sidewalls, such as trenches or lines, the single beam generator is not sufficient to measure the complete feature as the beam is obscured by another part of the feature of interest. In response to this drawback, multiple beam solutions have been presented, but these add significant cost and difficulty in their practical application.
Scanning probe microscopy (SPM), including the specific implementation of atomic force microscopy (AFM), is well understood in the field, and is also a potential method for achieving the desired measurements. The prior art has many implementations of performing such measurements using an AFM. Examples of such implementations include scanning the feature with the AFM or using a profiler to locate the features and then scanning them with the AFM. There are many prior art examples of using multiple tips on the same cantilever such as using 2 AFM probes serially, the first for a coarse scan and a second, sharper probe for a finer scan or using a single beam on a cantilever between 2 tips to take a differential height measurement. However, no matter which of these methods is used, the geometry of the AFM tip will create tip artifacts and prevent accurate imaging of the sides of the feature, as is also well documented in the prior art.
Different AFM tip geometries are also well documented in the prior art. Examples of such tip geometries include the conical probe tip, the cylindrical probe tip and the "boot" probe tip. Probe tip geometries and the artifacts they generate are of particular interest for lines and trenches. FIG. 1a shows a conical probe tip 10. In FIG. 1b the conical probe tip 10 scans over a line 12 and produces scan data 14; the scan data 14 contains tip artifacts 16 from the taper of the probe tip that does not completely accurately represent the topography of the line 10. FIG. 1c shows the conical probe tip 10 scanning over a trench 18 and producing scan data 20; the scan data 20 also contains tip artifacts 22 from the taper of the probe tip that does not completely accurately represent the topography of the trench 18. Note that the vertical sidewalls are not measured. FIG. 2a shows a cylindrical probe tip 24. In FIG. 2b the cylindrical probe tip 24 scans over a line 26 and produces scan data 28; the scan data 28 contains tip artifacts 30 from the body of the probe tip that does not completely accurately represent the topography of the line 26. FIG. 2c shows the cylindrical probe tip 24 scanning over a trench 32 and producing scan data 34; the scan data 34 also contains tip artifacts 36 from the body of the probe tip that does not completely accurately represent the topography of the trench 32. Note that the vertical sidewalls are not measured. FIG. 3a shows a boot probe tip 38. In FIG. 3b the boot probe tip 38 scans over a line 40 and produces scan data 42; the scan data 42 contains tip artifacts 44 from the body of the probe tip that does not completely accurately represent the topography of the line 40. FIG. 3c shows the boot probe tip 38 scanning over a trench 46 and producing scan data 48; the scan data 48 also contains tip artifacts 50 from the body of the probe tip does not completely accurately represent the topography of the trench 46. Note that bottom of the trench and the top of the line are not measured. FIG. 4a shows a triple probe tip 52. In FIG. 4b the triple probe tip 52 scans over a line 54 and produces scan data 56; the scan data 56 contains tip artifacts 58; the scan data 56 contains tip artifacts 58 from the body of the probe tip that does not completely accurately represent the topography of the line 54. FIG. 4c shows the triple probe tip 52 scanning over a trench 60 and producing scan data 62; the scan data 62 also contains tip artifacts 64 from the body of the probe tip does not completely accurately represent the topography of the trench 60. Note that the triple tip is much more difficult to manufacture than the other styles of probe tips.
If the measurement requires accurate imagery of the vertical sidewall of the feature and the measurement of the nominally horizontal surfaces, then more capability is needed. The prior art contains many examples of a probe or a sample tilted to allow measurement of the sidewall and horizontal surface. FIG. 5a shows a step sample 66 being imaged by a probe tip 68 generating scan data 70 that contains tip artifacts 72 and does not accurately represent the step sample 66. FIG. 5b shows the probe tip 68 scanning over a tilted step sample 74 and shows the resulting scan data 76 contains far less tip artifacts and also accurately represents the profile of the tilted step sample 74. FIG. 6 shows a tilted boot tip 78 making a measurement of a step sample 80 and the produced scan data 82 accurately reflects the step sample 80. FIG. 7 shows a single tilted probe 84 measuring the sidewall and bottom of a reentrant trench 86 in several different configurations. However, while each of these methods is capable of measuring a sidewall and the horizontal surface, none of them are capable of measuring both sides of a feature, such as a trench or a line, without changing configurations.
It is therefore desirable to provide the capability to consistently measure the geometry of various features while removing the artifacts present in the measurement of a single tip.

Deconvolving tip artifacts using multiple scanning probes


Equalization circuitry that includes an analog equalizer and a decision feedback equalizer (DFE) is provided for high-speed backplane data communication. The analog equalizer reduces the number of taps that are required by the DFE, which lessens the error propagation of the DFE. Furthermore, the DFE includes a summing circuit and flip-flop circuitry. The flip-flop circuitry may be used as part of a phase detector by clock and data recovery circuitry. The summing circuit may further be embedded into the flip-flop circuitry to reduce the feedback path delay, thereby allowing for higher speed operation. The DFE may be extended to multiple taps by including additional flip-flops.

The present invention relates generally to equalization circuitry. More specifically, the invention relates to an improved decision feedback equalizer with increased speed, a reduced power and area overhead, and that is suitable for high-speed applications.
Equalization circuitry generally acts on signal transitions by briefly responding to the transition more strongly so as to help compensate for high-frequency signal losses when signals are transmitted along a transmission line. Such circuitry is used to restore transmitted signals that suffer from deterioration due to effects such as skin effect, dielectric loss, reflection and crosstalk. These effects all contribute to intersymbol interference (ISI), which limits the speed and distance over which signals may be transmitted.
One general type of equalization circuitry that is sometimes used is an analog equalizer. Analog equalizers are typically implemented as analog high-pass filters to amplify the high-frequency content in incoming data. Such implementations usually consume relatively little power and are well suited for high-speed operation. However, in amplifying the high-frequency content in the signals, analog equalizers also adversely amplify the high-frequency noise, consequently degrading the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR).
Another common type of equalization circuitry is a decision feedback equalizer (DFE). DFEs use feedback to reduce the ISI in a presently transmitted signal. In particular, DFEs feed back a weighted sum of decisions about the logic state of one or more previously transmitted data bits in order to decide the logic state of a present data bit. One of the advantages of DFEs compared to linear, finite impulse response (FIR) filters is that DFEs do not amplify high-frequency noise since the decisions (which are assumed to be correct) are noise-free. Furthermore, DFEs are typically less sensitive to clock jitter. However, conventional DFEs are implemented as FIR filters using digital signal processing (DSP), and the resulting DFE architectures often require multiple feedback taps (coefficient/delay pairs) to achieve target performance. As a result, these DFEs have a large power and area overhead and are limited to low-speed applications due to their relatively long propagation delays. Moreover, when an incorrect decision about the logic state of a transmitted signal is inadvertently made by the DFE, a burst of errors referred to as error propagation may occur. Error propagation in DFEs becomes less of an issue when the number of taps and/or the tap weights are small.
In addition, typically when the DFE is part of general receiver circuitry, the output of the DFE is passed on to clock data recovery (CDR) circuitry that is used to recover a clock signal from the transmitted data signals. This CDR circuitry is typically designed separate from the circuitry that constitutes the DFE.
Thus, it would be desirable to generally provide equalization circuitry that demonstrates small area and power consumption and that would be suitable for high-speed applications. Specifically, it would be desirable to combine a DFE with CDR circuitry in a way to reduce the die area consumed by the receiver circuitry on a device. It would further be desirable to provide an improved DFE architecture that allows the DFE to operate at higher speeds. It would also be desirable provide a way to reduce the number of taps required by a DFE to provide a certain level of equalization, thereby reducing the amount of error propagation caused by the DFE and making the DFE more effective.

Methods and apparatus for equalization in high-speed backplane data communication


A trench is formed in a low K dielectric (100) over a plurality of vias (120) also formed in the low K dielectric layer (100). The vias are separated by a distance of less than XV and the edge of the trench is greater than XTO from the edge α of the via closest to the edge of the trench. The trench and vias are subsequently filled with copper (150), (160) to form the interconnect line.

High performance integrated circuits utilize low K dielectric layers and copper metal to form the lines that interconnect the various electronic devices that comprise the circuit. The copper interconnect lines comprise copper formed in trenches and vias in the low K dielectric material.
Illustrated in FIG. 1 is a cross section diagram of a typical copper interconnect structure showing copper delamination. Copper delamination is a major problem that affects the reliability and operation of the integrated circuit. As shown in FIG. 1, a dielectric layer 10 is formed over a semiconductor. Electronic devices such as transistors, capacitors, and diodes will be formed in the semiconductor. In addition there may be any number of intervening layers and structures between the semiconductor and the dielectric layer 10. The semiconductor and any intervening layers have been omitted for clarity. A copper layer 20 is formed in the dielectric layer using known methods. A barrier layer 30 is formed on the copper layer and a second dielectric layer 40 is formed over the barrier layer. Using known methods such as the dual damascene method, copper lines 60 and vias 50, 51 are formed in the second dielectric layer. During subsequent processing various stresses will be formed in the copper interconnect structure. Currently this stress can lead to the delamination as shown in FIG. 1. As shown in the Figure, the copper via 51 has lifted away from the underlying copper layer 20 and is no longer making electrical contact with said layer. This lifting of the via from the underlying copper line is referred to as via delamination (or delamination). This delamination can cause the integrated circuit to become inoperable and fail. There is therefore a need for a method to form copper interconnect structures that will reduce and/or eliminate delamination. The instant invention addresses this need.

Dual depth trench termination method for improving Cu-based interconnect integrity


A rotary position sensor is includes a static portion that comprises a first board and a second board and a rotatable portion that comprises a third board. The second board comprises a first planar coil; and the third board comprises a second planar coil as well as means for generating luminance. The first board comprises means for receiving the generated luminance and the first planar coil of the second board is configured to transmit power to said second planar coil of said third board via inductance. The power received by said second planar coil is configured to supply a current to said means for generating luminance; and said means for generating luminance is configured to emit a luminance signal which has a luminance level.

Rotary position sensors are commonly used in many avionic and aeronautical applications. They are also widely used in industrial fields such as plant control, robotics and the automobile fields. Nowadays it is preferred to use contactless rotary position sensor, as they provide greater durability due to reduced wear of the mechanical components.
Such known contactless sensors can be quite complex, however, and often require some form of demodulation of the output signal in order to retrieve the angle information.
These types of sensors use different types of technology in order to determine an angle measurement. For example, sensors may use measurements such as: potentiometric, inductive (RVDT), capacitive, magnetic and optical (e.g. RB sensors, diffraction measurement or luminance through a polarizer).
Some known contactless sensors that are optical sensors require specific optical elements between the rotor and the stator in order to achieve the rotation angle measurement.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,661,698 describes a rotary optical transducer. The optical transducer is connectable to a fixed body and a rotary member for detecting the angular position of the rotary member with respect to the fixed body. The optical transducer comprises light emitting means for emitting a light beam having a predetermined axis and a light detector means.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,919,559B2 describes a high temperature optical rotary and linear position sensor. The sensor comprises a first member carrying a source of light and a second, rotatable member that rotates about an axis relative to the source of light. The sensor uses these components in combination with a light reflecting surface that is fixedly attached to the second member and a reflected light receiving member that is fixed relative to the source of light in order to determine a rotary position.


The valve timing is changed to increase the internal EGR amount the moment a fuel cut process begins (FIG. 2C). Before a sufficient amount of internal EGR is obtained, control is exercised so that the throttle-opening angle TA is larger than a basic idle-opening angle TA0. When a sufficient amount of internal EGR is obtained, control is exercised so that the throttle-opening angle TA is smaller than the basic idle-opening angle TA0 (FIG. 2D). The increase in the internal EGR amount is rendered smaller during fuel cut at a low rotation speed than during fuel cut at a high rotation speed. In addition, the amount of decrease in the throttle-opening angle TA is rendered smaller during fuel cut at a low rotation speed than during fuel cut at a high rotation speed.

A conventional technology disclosed, for instance, by Japanese laid-open patent No. 2002-22671 optimizes the internal combustion engine's valve timing and valve lift amount in order to prevent the oil consumption amount from increasing (oil rising) at the time of internal combustion engine deceleration and inhibit the catalyst from deteriorating at the time of internal combustion engine deceleration.
When the throttle is closed, that is, when the driver makes a request for deceleration, the fuel is generally cut off in the internal combustion engine to improve the fuel consumption characteristic. Therefore, when the internal combustion engine decelerates, a considerable negative pressure is produced in the intake pipe, and air containing no fuel is distributed from the intake path to the exhaust path.
When a considerable negative pressure is produced within the intake pipe, it is likely that the in-cylinder pressure in the internal combustion engine will be rendered negative. If the in-cylinder pressure is rendered negative, the so-called oil rising occurs to increase the amount of oil consumption in the internal combustion engine. From the viewpoint of oil consumption amount minimization, therefore, it is preferred that the intake pipe pressure prevailing at the time of internal combustion engine deceleration be not rendered unduly negative. To this end, therefore, the intake air amount is increased with an increase in the engine speed at the time of deceleration.
Meanwhile, the catalyst positioned in the exhaust path of the internal combustion engine is likely to deteriorate when being supplied with a lean gas in a high-temperature environment. Therefore, it is preferred that the air distribution amount be reduced during internal combustion engine deceleration in order to inhibit catalyst deterioration during a fuel cut period.
The conventional system described above optimizes the valve timing and valve lift amount to reduce the air distribution amount at the time of internal combustion engine deceleration without making the intake pipe pressure unduly negative. The system, therefore, excels in minimizing the oil consumption amount increase due to deceleration fuel cut and inhibiting catalyst deterioration.
The applicant of the present invention is aware that the following patent documents including the above-mentioned patent document relate to the present invention:
[Patent Document 1]
Japanese laid-open patent No. 2002-227671
[Patent Document 2]
Japanese laid-open patent No. 1998-299518
[Patent Document 3]
Japanese laid-open patent No. 1998-115234
[Patent Document 4]
Japanese laid-open patent No. 2004-52677
However, the conventional system described above merely adjusts the valve characteristic, that is, merely adjusts the characteristic of a single actuator, to prevent the intake pressure from becoming unduly negative and reduce the air distribution amount although preventing the intake pressure from becoming unduly negative is contradictory to reducing the air distribution amount. In this respect, the above conventional system still needs improvement in oil consumption amount minimization and catalyst deterioration prevention.

Control device for internal combustion engine


In complex vehicle maneuvers it is often difficult for the driver of the motor vehicle to estimate along which tract the vehicle will move and how much free space is necessary in order to avoid collision. A process is provided for monitoring the environment space in the direction of travel of the own vehicle, in which image data of the environment around the vehicle in the direction of travel of the vehicle is recorded using a camera system the three-dimensional free space required for unimpeded travel is calculated in advance in a signal processing unit and the vehicle operator is informed regarding whether or not a sufficient free space is available to him for unimpeded travel.

1. Field of Invention
The invention concerns a process and device for monitoring the free space in the direction of travel of a vehicle according to the precharacterizing portion of patent claims 1 and 10.
2. Related Art of the Invention
In complex vehicle maneuvers it is often difficult for the driver of the motor vehicle to predict the precise track of the vehicle and to know how much free space will be needed in order to avoid collision. This is the case in particular when the vehicle operator is not familiar with the dimensions or the maneuvering characteristics of the vehicle.
In order to support the vehicle operator during difficult driving maneuvers, an operator information system has been developed as described in Japanese Published Application JP 2000-67395 A, wherein image data describing the roadway have predicted vehicle tracks superimposed thereupon. In this manner it becomes possible for the vehicle operator to better estimate the future behavior of his vehicle. To do this the system uses the data of two sensors, which are mounted on the front wheels of the vehicle and therewith provide information regarding the direction of motion and the speed of the vehicle. From the sensor data a future vehicle track is predicted and this is superimposed as a line structure of a depiction of the vehicle track in a display unit. A disadvantage with such a system is that the predicted vehicle track is superimposed only upon a display of the vehicle roadway or route, with no images embedded in the display providing the operator information regarding objects in the vicinity of the vehicle.
In order to provide the vehicle operator an improved overview over the actual environment of the vehicle and to allow better maneuvering therein, an improved environment monitoring system is proposed in Patent Application EP 1 158 803 A2. Herein the situation of the environment of the vehicle is detected using multiple camera systems, with data transformed into a birdseye view. Into this image a vehicle system representing the vehicle is embedded in a position corresponding to the vehicle position. The vehicle symbol is herein so designed, that it fits into the environment image with its correct size relationship. The image information provided to the vehicle operator thus corresponds to the view from the point above the vehicle looking down onto the environment; that is, the vehicle and its environment are represented in a type of birdseye perspective. In order to support the vehicle operator in his evaluation of the future travel path of the vehicle, the image has superimposed thereon a three dimensional line contour describing the predicted vehicle path of travel. The line contour represents the image of an edge or frame of a rectangle, which is curved along the predicted path of travel. The two lower longitudinal edges of the rectangle lie on the vehicle path of travel and correspond substantially to the vehicle track represnted in JP 2000-67395 A. The height and breadth of the rectangle is herein selected to be smaller than height and breadth of the vehicle. The vehicle operator obtains by this mode of representation on the one hand a good depiction of the future relationship of the vehicle to its environment; however, due to the perspective of representation which is unconventional for the vehicle operator it is not possible for him, in simple manner to grasp the danger of collision, which would be attributable to the parts projecting from the vehicle sides into the area of the predicted vehicle path of travel. In particular, the parts projecting into the predicted vehicle path from above can only be represented and recognized with difficulty. It is also not possible to represent for the vehicle operator thoroughfares (tunnels or entryways, garages) in a plausible or intuitively understandable manner.

Free space monitoring system for motor vehicles


A method and apparatus for integrating a converged infrastructure platform in a data center is provided. The described apparatus configures the physical and virtual resources that run on the converged infrastructure to communicate with the rest of the data center. The described apparatus further enables a system administrator to rollback configurations of the physical and virtual resources of the converged infrastructure to restore the converged infrastructure to a factory state.

1. Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the present invention generally relate to a method for installing a computing block platform within an existing data center.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, in a virtualized computer environment, virtual machines are configured to run on one or more host computers. Each virtual machine uses CPU and memory resources of one of the host computers and runs its own operating system and application programs to give the appearance that it is operating as a stand-alone computer system. The amount of CPU and memory resources provisioned for each of the virtual machines on a host computer can be designated by an administrator of the virtualized computer environment. In some virtualized environments, load balancing is enforced across multiple host computers by software that monitors resource usage on different host computers. Such software migrates virtual machines from one host computer to another, e.g., from a busy host computer to one that has excess capacity.
Additionally, enterprises engaged in developing, testing, and deploying software applications need to deal with many layers of the targeted platform. These layers include application services, virtualization, and hardware infrastructure with compute, network, storage, and management at all levels. Information technology (IT) and engineering groups also acquire, deploy, and provide ongoing management, as well as ensure the layers work seamlessly together. This increases an enterprise's initial and ongoing cost, extends the development cycle, and reduces flexibility needed to respond to changes in the market.
Further, the traditional enterprise information technology (IT) roles such as server administrator, UNIX administrator, and network, storage or exchange administrator, have been generally static. The roles operate in isolation, or "silos", which cause friction within IT organizations, as well as between developers and IT. Further, it is difficult for developers to play the role of IT administrator when their developed applications are deployed as "cloud applications." This difficulty is due not only to various access-controls, authentication and authorization complexities, but also to a model of organizational separation between developers and IT, where the default behavior is to deny access to the resources.
As such, there is a demand for a more efficient operational model for administrating computing infrastructure.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


In an electronic system (100), a regulator (200) couples a supply device (110) to a consuming device (120) through a series switch (210) and provides output current I.sub.OUT. A shunt switch (220) is provided across the output. Fast changes of I.sub.OUT due to switching on and off the consuming device (120) are accommodated by the regulator (200). The regulator (200) has a voltage divider (250, 260) to measure V.sub.OUT. Operational amplifiers (230 and 240') control transistors (210, 220) with different switching thresholds, They compare a measurement voltage V.sub.M derived from V.sub.OUT to a reference voltage V.sub.REF. When the consuming device (120) is switched off, the first amplifier (230) makes the series transistor (210) non-conductive; and then the second amplifier (240') makes the shunt transistor (220) conductive for a short time. Capacitance at the output node (205) is substantially discharged. After overshooting, the voltage V.sub.OUT returns to its previous value. Unwanted undershooting of V.sub.OUT is substantially avoided.

Many electronic system (e.g., mobile phones) comprise regulators which couple supply devices (e.g., batteries, main transformers) and consuming devices (e.g., transmitters, speakers, logic circuits, memories). The properties of the regulators are described, for example, by an input voltage V.sub.IN, an input current I.sub.IN, an output voltage V.sub.OUT, and an output current I.sub.OUT. According to a time scheme the regulator provides V.sub.OUT and I.sub.OUT within predetermined minimum and maximum values to the consuming device. A reverse action from the consuming device to the regulator is often not wanted but should be accommodated by the regulator. A regulator which uses energy effectively supplies V.sub.OUT and I.sub.OUT according to the needs the consuming components.
In a nonlimiting example of a mobile phone, the regulator receives V.sub.IN and I.sub.IN from a battery and provides V.sub.OUT and I.sub.OUT to a transmitter and to a memory. The transmitter sends radio signals in bursts (e.g., "operating mode A"). During a waiting time between the bursts (e.g., "operating mode B"), the regulator should recover from changes of V.sub.OUT caused by the transmitter. The waiting time is crucial for the performance of the mobile phone. While waiting, the regulator should consume only a low quiescent current (e.g., I.sub.IN); and the output voltage V.sub.OUT should stay above a minimum value required by the memory. Regulators for such applications are known in the art as low-drop-out (LDO) regulators.
The present invention seeks to provide regulators which mitigate or avoid disadvantages and limitations of the prior art.

Electronic system with regulator, and method


An air dam (35) is place between free tape (13) extending to a reel (11) and the reel (11). During high speed winding operations, the air dam (35) interrupts air flow toward the convergence (17) of the free tape (13) with the reel (11). This reduces a tendency for air entrainment in tape (15) packed on the reel (11) during the high speed winding operations.

In a non-continuous magnetic tape system, magnetic tape is wound around one reel and retrieved from another reel. This arrangement can be present in traditional reel-to-reel systems, two-reel cartridge systems and single reel cartridge systems. In the case of non-continuous single cartridge systems, tape is wound to a take-up reel which is separate from the cartridge, and is usually a part of a tape transport mechanism.
"Tape recorder" is intended to mean magnetic tape transcription equipment. This includes standard tape recorders with fixed heads, as well as helical scan tape transcription equipment used in analog and digital tape recorders. In the preferred embodiment, digital transcription using linear transcription is, although the invention has application in other tape recording environments, such as helical and arcuate scanning. The invention is not intended to be limited to a particular use for the data. "Transcription" is intended to mean read and/or write operations of the tape recorder, and is not intended to be limited to a particular use for the data.
In using the terminology, it must be noted that tape is normally moved in both a forward and reverse direction between the supply and take-up reels. If the respective supply and take-up reels retain their designations, in reverse or rewind operation, tape is being taken up by the supply reel and supplied by the take-up reel. For the purposes of this description, the reel which at a given time is discharging tape will be referred to as the "unwinding reel," and the reel which at any given time is receiving tape will be referred to as the "winding reel. Tape fed to or from a reel normally meets the reel tangentially. Therefore, a location between the tape being fed and the reel can be referred to as, "inside the tape path," with respect to the reel and a location on the far side of the tape being fed would be, "outside the tape path," with respect to the reel. The tape on the reel is referred to as a, "tape pack."
Tape wound around a reel must be properly packed in order to achieve proper performance and to reduce tape damage. It has been found that tape packing, for a given tape configuration is a function of tape winding speed. Tape winding speed, as it affects tape packing is both rotational speed and linear speed. Linear speed, in particular seems to have a significant effect on causing air entrainment. Air entrainment occurs as a result of a tape floating force, which increases with tape travel speed, suggesting a mechanism similar to an active pressure air bearing. Irregular winding results from air entrainment, and is more likely to occur at high winding speeds. High winding speeds refer to a winding speed achieved on a particular tape transport mechanism that is above that needed for transcription, and usually limited by the ability of the tape transport mechanism to reliably transport the tape to a winding reel without damaging the tape. More importantly for this invention, the high speed operation is further limited by a desire not to cause air entrainment in the tape pack. Therefore, what may be a high speed for one tape transport mechanism may be much lower than either the rotational or linear speed of another tape transport mechanism. It is a purpose of the present invention to increase this speed for a given tape transport mechanism.
It is possible to reduce air entrainment by increasing tape tension. The ability to increase tension is dependent on the ability of the tape to receive tensile force without stretching or otherwise distorting. Usually tension is a predetermined factor, depending on an anticipated minimum strength of the tape and other drive performance factors. Thus, the ability to reduce air entrainment by increasing tension is limited. One prior art technique for tape winding included the use of a vacuum pump to reduce air pressure during tape transport operations.
In the case of magnetic tape used to store digital computer data, it is often desired to quickly wind the tape in order to position a desired location of the tape for transcription. This is necessitated by the nature of the media; that is, a web. Data location on the web is dependent on winding and unwinding operations. After the tape is wound to a desired location, the tape is read or written according to the operational protocols of the equipment, until it is necessary to perform read or write operations at a different location. Because of the need to change locations on the tape, the maximum speed that the tape can be wound becomes important to the speed of operation of the tape transcription equipment.
In addition, in some installations, the tape must be rewound as a routine matter, for example when it is necessary to change tape. This is particularly the case of single reel cartridges in non-continuous tape systems. In general, it is common to have operating requirements where it is desired to position tapes at a selected position. During such movement, performance is heavily dependent on tape transport speed.
It is desired to provide quality tape packing in that adjacent layers of tape on a reel are in good alignment. It is therefore desired to provide an ability to reduce air entrainment during winding, and ability to increase tape transport speed without substantially increasing air entrainment. Such an ability implies a requirement to reduce air entrainment for a given tape transport speed and tension. It would further be desired to reduce air entrainment without the use of a vacuum pump or as a supplement to the use of external negative pressure.


The present invention has as its object to obtain a zoom lens having a high variable power ratio, and having high optical performance which can sufficiently cope with even the use, for example, of a solid state image pickup element having a wide angle of field. In a zoom lens having, in succession from an object side to an image side, a first lens unit L1 of negative optical power, a second lens unit L2 of positive optical power and a third lens unit L3 of positive optical power, wherein the interval between adjacent ones of the lens units is changed to thereby effect focusing, the first lens unit has a negative lens and a positive lens, the second lens unit has a positive lens and a negative lens, the third lens unit has a positive lens, and the object side and image side surfaces of the negative lens G11 of the first lens unit which is most adjacent to the object side are of an aspherical shape.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a zoom lens suitable for a still camera, a video camera, a digital camera, etc. , and an image pickup apparatus having the same.
2. Description of Related Art
Recently, with the higher function of an image pickup apparatus (camera) such as a video camera or a digital still camera using a solid state image pickup element, a lens system of a relatively great aperture ratio including a wide angle of field has been required for an optical system used therein.
In a camera of this kind, various optical members such as a low-pass filter and a color correcting filter are disposed between the rearmost portion of a lens and an image pickup element and therefore, a lens system having a relatively long back focal length is required for an optical system used therein.
Further, in the case of a color camera using an image pickup element for a color image, in order to avoid color shading, an optical system having a good image side telecentric characteristic is desired as an optical system used therein.
There have heretofore been proposed various two-unit zoom lenses of a so-called short zoom type having a wide angle of field which comprises two lens units, i.e., a first lens unit of negative optical power and a second lens unit of positive optical power, and effects a focal length change by changing the lens interval between the two lens units. In these optical systems of the short zoom type, the second lens unit of positive optical power is moved to thereby effect a focal length change, and the first lens unit of negative optical power is moved to thereby effect the correction of a fluctuation in the position of an image point resulting from the focal length change. In a lens construction comprising these two lens units, the zoom magnification is of the order of double.
Further, in order to have a double or higher variable power ratio, and yet arrange an entire lens into a compact shape, there has been proposed a so-called three-unit zoom lens in which a third lens unit of negative or positive optical power is disposed on the image side of a two-unit zoom lens and which effects the correction of various aberrations occurring with a higher magnification (for example, Japanese Patent Publication No. H07-3507 and Japanese Patent Publication No. H06-40170).
As the three-unit zoom lens, there is known a three-unit zoom lens system having a wide angle of field which has a long back focal length and satisfies a telecentric characteristic (for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. S63-135913 and Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. H07-261083).
Also, in the three-unit zoom lens, there is known a zoom lens in which a first lens unit of negative optical power is made stationary and a second lens unit of positive optical power and a third lens unit of positive optical power are moved to thereby effect zooming (for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. H03-288113).
Also, in the three-unit zoom lens, there is known a three-unit zoom lens having a relatively small number of constituent lenses in which in case of zooming, all lens units are moved and a cemented lens is effectively used as a second lens unit to thereby correct chromatic aberration (for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2001-272602, Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2003-128261, Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2002-48975, Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2003-5072, Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2003-149555 and Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2003-149556).
Also, in the three-unit zoom lens, there is known a three-unit zoom lens in which the object side surface and image side surface of a lens of negative optical power in a first lens unit are made into an aspherical shape to thereby aim at a further decrease in the number of constituent lenses (for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. H05-323190, Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. H07-174971, Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2002-55278 and Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2002-365545).
A three-unit zoom lens designed for a 35 mm film photograph is too long in back focal length and not good in telecentric characteristic for an image pickup apparatus using a solid state image pickup element and therefore, it is difficult to intactly use in an image pickup apparatus.
On the other hand, in recent years, in order to make the compactness of a camera and the higher magnification of a zoom lens compatible, there has been widely used a zoom lens of a so-called flush barrel type in which during non-photographing, the interval between adjacent ones of the lens units is reduced to an interval differing from that in a photographing state to thereby reduce the amount of protrusion of the lens from a camera main body.
Generally, if the number lenses of each lens unit constituting a zoom lens is great, the length of each lens unit on the optical axis thereof becomes great, and if the amount of movement of each lens unit in zooming and focusing is great, the full length of the lens becomes great and a desired flush barrel length cannot become achieved, and this becomes difficult to use in the zoom lens of the flush barrel type.

Zoom lens and image pickup apparatus having the same


A system, device, method and software for providing a visitor access to a public network are disclosed. In one form, a virtual visitor enabled local area network includes a visitor access point operable to provide a visitor access to a public network while connected to a local area network (LAN). The visitor access point is operable to protect the LAN using a virtual visitor network established between the visitor access point and a virtual visitor network gateway.

Most enterprises do not allow visitors to access their private local area networks (LANs) due to security concerns creating difficult work environments when visitors need to access the Internet or remote access accounts via public networks. The primary reason enterprise network managers limit access is to protect their network, servers, systems, etc. from direct or indirect malignant attacks. As such, a visitor's productivity can be significantly affected if a visitor cannot access the Internet while visiting an enterprise. For example, consultants may not be able to efficiently advise their clients without having access to a public network while they are working with clients.
Currently, some conventional solutions are available including creating visitor accounts to provide a visitor access public access with significantly limiting access to the private LAN. Though effective, this usually requires client and server synchronized software to provide access and management of user names, passwords, access levels, etc. Such arrangements may be functional but leave a network vulnerable to outside attacks when a user accesses a public network and provides for continuous management and monitoring of network accounts. As such, there is a need for enterprises to provide visitors access to a public network from within their local area network without compromising the security of their own network or having to maintain user accounts, passwords, custom software, etc.

System, device, method and software for providing a visitor access to a public network


An insert for a golf club head, wherein the insert includes a generally planar base surface and a maximum thickness, Tmax, measured perpendicular to the base surface. The insert further includes a first component comprising a non-metallic material, and a second component coupled to the first component and comprising a continuous, formed metal sheet having a thickness between 0.01 mm and 3.0 mm, the second component extending a maximum distance, D, in a direction perpendicular to the base surface, that is no less than 6 mm. The insert is configured such that a ratio D/Tmax is no less than 0.50.

1. Field of the Invention
The present disclosure relates generally to golf club heads and, more specifically, inserts for golf club heads.
2. Background
When a golfer strikes a golf ball correctly, oftentimes the golfer will immediately know the shot is good based on the "feel" of the strike. In this respect, when the club head impacts the ball at the "sweet spot" of the club head, there are minimal vibrations which the golfer can feel. As a result, the swing and resultant strike feel pure. Thus, the golf industry has developed several products directed toward dampening the vibrations within a club head upon impact with a golf ball. For instance, inserts or plaques are commonly attached to the back of an iron-type golf club to reduce vibrations.
Several inserts exist having a multi-component composition of a resilient, polymeric backing component and a metallic sheet component. For example, inserts may include a visco-elastic, or resilient, material component capable of damping vibrations, thus controlling sound and feel. Sometimes, such components are combined with mass elements, optionally having higher densities and/or greater rigidity, further providing vibration tuning/control.
These inserts are often located on a rear surface of the club head, opposite the striking face. This position may provide optimal tuning of the vibrations emanating from a golf ball impact. However, this location may not always be an optimal location to place mass, particularly when a high moment of inertia is desired. However, heavy mass/volume in a central region of the striking face may lead a golfer to believe that the club will impart a solid shot and more positive feel, which belief increases player confidence further improving performance.
In view of the foregoing, there is a need in the art for an insert having relatively high thickness/volume, but low weight.


A configuration system for an intelligent assist system is provided. The intelligent assist system includes a module, and a computational node on the module. The configuration system includes a host computer system capable of executing a stored program. The host computer system is in communication with the computational node via a communication link. The system also includes a graphical user interface enabling a user to manipulate objects related to the module or the computational node, and a plurality of visual indicators corresponding to a status of the module, the computational node, or the communication link.

In an industrial application such as a manufacturing assembly line or general material handling situation, the payload may be too large for a human operator to move without mechanical assistance or risking injury. Even with lighter loads it may be desirable to provide a human operator with mechanical assistance in order to allow more rapid movement and assembly, avoid strain, fatigue or repetitive motion injuries. Thus, a great deal of industrial assembly and material handling work is done with the help of assist devices such as x-y overhead rail systems. There are two primary examples of these types of devices: (1) powered overhead gantry cranes for large loads, usually running on I-beams, and (2) unpowered overhead rail systems for smaller loads running on low-friction enclosed rails.
These types of assist devices may be passive devices or active devices. For smaller loads, a passive overhead rail system may be used to assist an operator in supporting the load. The operator may push on the payload directly, causing the trolley and bridge rail to move along with the payload to assist the operator in handling the load.
A number of problems, however, plague unpowered overhead rail systems. Getting the payload moving is not the primary one. This can be done by forward pushing, using the large muscles of the lower body which are not easily injured. Controlling the motion of the moving payload is a greater problem, as it requires pulling sideways with respect to the payload's direction of motion, generally using the smaller and more easily injured muscles of the upper body and back.
Anisotropy is a further problem. Although low-friction designs are used, both the friction and the inertia are greater in the direction in which the payload has to carry with it the whole bridge rail than in the direction in which the payload simply moves along the bridge rail. Anisotropy produces an unintuitive response of the payload to applied user forces and often results in the user experiencing a continuous sideways "tugging" as the payload moves, in order to keep it on track. Both steering and anisotropy contribute to ergonomic strain, lower productivity, and a changeover to slower gantry cranes at an unnecessarily low payload weight threshold.
Active devices can be used to generate additional forces which an operator can call upon to further assist in supporting or moving a payload. For larger loads, an active motor-driven trolley and bridge rail transport can be used to assist the operator by providing a mechanical assist. Such additional forces can be generated by motors, balancers, hydraulics, etcetera, which can typically be controlled by the operator.
Intelligent Assist Devices ("IADs") are a class of computer-controlled machines that interact with a human operator to assist in moving a payload. IADs may provide a human operator a variety of types of assistance, including supporting payload weight, helping to overcome friction or other resistive forces, helping to guide and direct the payload motion, or moving the payload without human guidance. The Robotics Industries Association T15 Committee on Safety Standards for Intelligent Assist Devices describes IADs as a single or multiple axis device that employs a hybrid programmable computer-human control system to provide human strength amplification, guiding surfaces, or both. These multifunctional assist devices are designed for material handling, process and assembly tasks that in normal operation involve a human presence in its workspace. Typically, Intelligent Assist Devices (IADs) are force-based control devices that range from single axis payload balancing to multiple degree of freedom articulated manipulators.
IADs may have multiple modes of operation such as a hands-on-controls mode providing a powered motion of the IAD when the human operator is in physical control and contact with the IAD primary controls. In addition, a hands-on-payload mode provides a selectable powered motion of the IAD in response to the operator positively applying forces to the payload or tooling, when the operator's hand(s) are not on the primary controls. A hands-off mode provides a powered motion of the IAD that is not in response and proportion to forces applied by the operator. Within each of these modes, the IAD may employ features such as force amplification, virtual guiding surfaces, and line tracking technologies.
Because IADs are intended for close interaction with human operators, unambiguous communication of IAD mode of operation to the human operator is particularly important. The man-machine interface should be clearly and ergonomically designed for efficient use of the system and safety of the operator. Ease and intuitiveness of operation is necessary for achieving high levels of productivity. Because of the close interaction of man and machines, safety of the human operator is most important. For example, the IAD mode shall be signaled by a continuous mode indicator that is readily visible to the operator and to other personnel in or near the IAD's workspace. Furthermore, attention should be paid to the design of the operator's controls such that inadvertent or mistaken changes of mode are minimized.
Another main objective in developing IADs is to merge the best of passive and active devices. Needed is the powered assistance currently available with gantry cranes, but the quick and intuitive operator interface that currently is available only from unpowered rail systems is also desirable. Needed is better ergonomic performance than unpowered rail systems and greater dexterity and speed than gantry cranes allow. Also needed is the ability to use the IAD with larger payloads than current unpowered rail systems allow.
In addition, needed is the ability to connect and integrate a number of IAD components to work together, and a computer interface design that allows an technician or system integrator to easily program, operate and monitor the status of an IAD system made up of a plurality of components.

System and architecture for providing a modular intelligent assist system


In a photoresist pattern formation by exposure using first and second photomasks, the first photomask has a transparent part, a rectangular opaque part having a first pair of sides and a second pair of sides, and a phase shifter, having a first edge crossing one of the first pair of sides, so that a part of the first edge is in the transparent part, and the second photomask has a transparent part, a rectangular opaque part corresponding to the rectangular opaque part of the first photomask, and a stripe-shaped opaque part corresponding to the first part of the first edge of the phase shifter. The rectangular opaque part of the first photomask is expanded in the direction of the first pair of sides, while the rectangular opaque part of the second photomask is expanded in the direction the second pair of sides. The amount of expansion is preferably not smaller than a misalignment tolerance.

The present invention relates to a method for forming a resist pattern employed in a process of fabricating semiconductor devices, and in particular to photomasks used in such a method.
In photolithography by projection exposure, various methods have been proposed which can form fine resist patterns for coping with the packing density increase of semiconductor devices. One technique drawing attention is a phase-shifting mask method.
The phase-shifting mask method was reported, for example, in IEEE Transaction of Electron Devices, Vol. ED-29 (1982), p. 1828, and Vol. ED-31 (1984), p. 753, by Levenson, et al. In the phase-shifting mask method, a phase-shifter in the form of a transparent thin film for shifting the phase of light passing therethrough is disposed partially over the photomask. At the edge of the phase-shifter (the boundary between the area covered by the phase-shifter and the area not covered), the light passing through the phase-shifter and the light not passing through the phase-shifter, each 180.degree. out of phase from each other, interfere with each other, and the light intensity on the wafer is reduced, and the part of the resist along the edge of the phase-shifter is effectively unexposed to the light. By the use of the phase-shifter, the resolution of the projection exposure method is thereby improved.
An application of the phase-shifting mask method is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application No. 190162/1990 and in Paper No. 27p-ZG-3, Extended Abstracts (The 51st Autumn Meeting, 1990); The Japan Society of Applied Physics. This method will be described with reference to FIG. 3A, FIG. 3B and FIG. 4. The drawings show an example in which resist patterns for forming gate patterns having a gate electrode and a pad. FIG. 3A and FIG. 3B are plan views showing the photomasks used, and FIG. 4 is a plan view showing a latent image formed on the resist when the photomasks of FIG. 3A and FIG. 3B are used.
In the illustrated pattern formation method, the photoresist is exposed to light through a first photomask 10 having a transparent part 11, a rectangular opaque part 13 and a phase shifter 15 having part of its edges positioned in the transparent part 11 (FIG. 3A). Another exposure is made using a second photomask 20 having an opaque part 21 corresponding to the opaque part 13 of the first photomask 10 and an opaque part 25 corresponding to an edge of the phase shifter 15 positioned in the transparent part 11 (FIG. 3B).
By the exposure using the first photomask 10, the area of the resist covered by the opaque part 13 does not receive light, and the area along the edge lines of the shifter 15 does not receive light by virtue of the interference (i.e., by the effect of phase-shifter edge line mask) and these areas remain unexposed, while the rest of the area receives light.
By the exposure using the second photomask 20, the areas covered by the opaque parts 21 and 25 do not receive light, while the rest of the area receives light. When the two exposures have been effected, a part 31 which is covered by both of the opaque area 13 of the first photomask 10 and the opaque area 21 of the second photomask 20, and a part 33 which is along the edge lines of the shifter 15 of the first photomask 10, and also is covered by the opaque part 25 of the second photomask 20, remain unexposed, while the rest of the area receives light during the first exposure and/or the second exposure. As a result, a latent image, shown in FIG. 4, consisting of the unexposed parts 31 and the unexposed part 33 is formed.
Where the resist is of the negative type, when the latent image of FIG. 4 is developed, a resist pattern with the unexposed parts 31 and 33 having been removed is obtained. This resist pattern can be utilized for forming a gate electrode and a pad by the lift-off method. Where the resist is of the positive type, when the latent image of FIG. 4 is developed, a resist pattern consisting of the unexposed parts 31 and 33 is obtained. In this case too, the area corresponding to the unexposed part 33 will be a part for forming a gate electrode, and the area corresponding to the unexposed part 31 will be a part for forming a pad of the resist pattern.
With the pattern forming method described above, a resist pattern for forming a rectangular pad and a gate electrode having a line width (corresponding to the gate length) of 0.2 .mu.m or less can be formed with ease.
A problem associated with the above described pattern forming method is that if the second photomask 20 is not exactly in alignment but is offset relative to the first photomask 10, the area 31 for the pad, which is unexposed through the first and second exposures, is reduced. For instance, if the second photomask 20 is offset in the direction of the length of the gate (horizontal direction in the figure), by X0 as shown in FIG. 5A, the width of the resultant unexposed part 31a will be W1', smaller than the designed width W1 by X0. Moreover, if the second photomask 20 is offset to the right as seen in the figure, a part of the upper horizontal (as seen in the figure) edge of the shifter 15 which is designed to be exposed during the second exposure is not exposed by the area 41 near the right edge of the opaque part 21 (due to the offset X0 of the opaque part 21), so a spike-like unexposed part 15a results, as shown in FIG. 5B.
To avoid the size reduction of the rectangular part and the formation of the spike-like part 15a, the opaque part may be made larger than the designed dimension of the pad, as shown in FIG. 6A. That is, the opaque part 13a of this example is expanded by a predetermined dimension t in all directions as shown in FIG. 6A. The dimension t allows for the misalignment. In this case, however, there will remain an unexposed, projecting part 31b which is covered by the expanded part of the opaque part 13a of the first photomask 10 and by the elongated opaque part 25 of the second photomask 20, as shown in FIG. 6B, so that the resultant pad has a shape different from the designed shape.

Pattern forming method and photomasks used therefor


A method of manufacturing an austenitic stainless steel sheet having reduced minute surface concavities and convexties ropings and gloss unevenness and a manufacturing system for carrying out the same are provided. The method comprises (a) a casting process of casting a molten austenitic (.gamma.) stainless steel into a thin cast plate by a twin-roll thin plate casting method employing a pair of cooled rolls disposed opposite to each other, (b) a cooling process of cooling the cast thin plate in a single phase state of the .gamma. phase, (c) a cast plate in a dual phase state of the .delta. and .gamma. phase or a single phase state of the .delta. phase and then cooling the thin cast plate to restore the single phase state of the .gamma. phase, and (d) a cold-rolling process of cold-rolling the heat-treated thin cast plate.

A conventional method of manufacturing a thin stainless steel sheet employing a continuous casting process comprises casting a cast plate having a thickness of not less than 100 mm while the mold is vibrated in the casting direction, cleaning the surfaces of the cast plate, hot-rolling the cast plate into a hot strip of a thickness on the order of several millimeters by a hot strip mill consisting of roughing stands and finishing stands arranged in series, after heating the cast plate to a temperature not lower than 1000.degree. C., descaling the hot strip, if needed, after annealing the same, cold-rolling the descaled hot strip, and finish-annealing the cold-rolled strip.
Such a conventional method has problems in that a very long hot strip mill must be used for hot-rolling the cast plate of a thickness not less than 100 mm, and a large quantity of energy must be used for the specific gravity of the cast plate and rolling the cast plate.
To solve such problems, studies have been made to develop an improved continuous casting process capable of producing a cast plate having a thickness equal to or nearly equal to that of the hot strip. Synchronous continuous casting processes of a twin-roll system and a twin-belt system, in which the speed of the cast plate relative to the inner surface of the mold is zero, are reported in papers inserted in the special edition of "Tetsu to Hagane", '85-A197 -'85-A256.
In a first method employing the continuous casting process of a twin-roll system, a thin cast plate of a thickness in the range of 0.5 to 10 mm is produced. Then, a sheet of a desired thickness is produced only by cold-rolling after subjecting the cast plate to an annealing process and a pickling process for descaling.
In a second method employing the continuous casting process of a twin-roll system, a thin cast plate of a thickness in the range of 0.5 to 10 mm is produced. Then, the cast plate is hot-rolled to produce a hot-rolled strip, the hot-rolled strip is descaled by pickling, and then the descaled strip is cold-rolled in a sheet of a desired thickness.
The cast plate produced in accordance with the above prior methods has a coarse crystal grain microstructure and, then to produce a cold-rolled sheet of a satisfactory surface quality by rolling the cast plate, the draft of the cold-rolling process in the first method must be considerably large, and the second method requires that the cast plate be hot-rolled before the cold-rolling process. Accordingly, these previously proposed methods have problems a long processing time and a significant increase of the cost of the sheet.

Method of manufacturing an austenitic stainless steel sheet and a manufacturing system for carrying out the same


A pair of dispensing devices is provided that exhibits an optical illusion that two identically sized such dispensing devices appear to be different sizes.

Today's marketplace for dispensing devices for the home or office is thriving and crowded. It is difficult for merchants and manufacturers in this market to distinguish their products from the vast array of choices available to the consumer. Adding the novelty of a striking optical illusion to the design of everyday dispensing devices adds a new aesthetic and amusement value to them. Especially common in the average household are dispensers for salt and pepper, other spices, oils and vinegars, bath powders and bath salts and the like. In addition, many disposable dispensers used by manufacturers to package consumables find their ways into the average household. Adding an optical illusion to such household dispensers adds a welcome new dimension of enjoyment for the consumer, and adding such an optical illusion to the packaging of common consumables can give a marketing edge by attracting attention to their novel design.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,051,592 B2 (Gary W. Schnuckle) enhances drinking cups and dispensers for liquids by adding a 3D tableau optical illusion effect visible when peering into the mouth of a cup or when looking through the transparent sides of a dispenser. U.S. Pat. No. 6,065,623 (Valentin Hierzer and Steve Sungsuk Kim) discloses closures for dispensing packages that use a lenticular lens to provide the illusion of three dimensional, moving, or multiple images to enhance the saleability and marketability of products contained therein.
One striking and very well known optical illusion, discovered by the American psychologist Joseph Jastrow in the nineteenth century, involves displaying two identical two dimensional arch-shaped figures. When one such two dimensional figure is aligned adjacent to another so that one of the arches is nestled next to the other, the strong illusion effect occurs that one figure is significantly larger than the other. Nothing in the prior art or on the market today utilizes this striking illusion to enhance the marketability of dispensers or products packaged in disposable dispensers such as foodstuffs, confectionaries, cosmetics, cleaning agents, or office products, etc., or to enhance the amusement, novelty and aesthetic value to consumers of such dispensers or such products packaged in disposable dispensers.


Methods for dissolving carbon materials such as, for example, graphite, graphite oxide, oxidized graphene nanoribbons and reduced graphene nanoribbons in a solvent containing at least one superacid are described herein. Both isotropic and liquid crystalline solutions can be produced, depending on the concentration of the carbon material The superacid solutions can be formed into articles such as, for example, fibers and films, mixed with other materials such as, for example, polymers, or used for functionalization of the carbon material. The superacid results in exfoliation of the carbon material to produce individual particles of the carbon material. In some embodiments, graphite or graphite oxide is dissolved in a solvent containing at least one superacid to form graphene or graphene oxide, which can be subsequently isolated. In some embodiments, liquid crystalline solutions of oxidized graphene nanoribbons in water are also described.

Graphene and related materials such as, for example, graphene nanoribbons hold great promise for applications in a number of technical fields due to their favorable electronic, mechanical and thermal properties. Many of the proposed applications would be facilitated by having available both 1) access to bulk quantities of graphene or graphene nanoribbons and 2) means for forming a high-concentration solution thereof.
Graphene can be produced by manual exfoliation of graphite, although this process is exceedingly low yielding and inefficient. Graphene can also be chemically produced from graphite by oxidation and exfoliation to produce oxidized graphene, followed by chemical or catalytic reduction to reduce the graphene back to near its original state. Although this process is somewhat scalable, the electrical and thermal properties of the reduced graphene generally do not wholly replicate those of unexfoliated graphite. Oxidized or reduced graphenes can also be further chemically functionalized to improve their solubility in conventional organic solvents.
Formation of high-concentration solutions (>a few tens of ppm) of graphene and graphene nanoribbons, even in the presence of surfactants or other dispersants, has not been presently realized. Furthermore, even when a solution can be formed, the graphene or graphene nanoribbons are often not well dispersed as individual particles within the solution. Agglomeration into bulk particles not only hampers dissolution, but it also partially degrades the beneficial structural and electrical properties of these carbon materials. Conventional methods to solubilize carbon materials such as graphene and graphene nanoribbons also typically utilize sonication to facilitate solubilization. Such sonication is typically thought to break apart or otherwise damage graphene and graphene nanoribbon particles, and this method accordingly places an upper limit on particle size that can be attained.
In view of the foregoing, methods to produce high-concentration solutions of graphene and graphene nanoribbons would be beneficial in the art. Such high-concentration solutions would permit ready processing of graphene and graphene nanoribbons into various articles such as, for example, films, fibers, polymer composites and shaped articles containing primarily or solely graphene or graphene nanoribbons. Ideally, such methods would not chemically modify or otherwise damage the graphene or graphene nanoribbons such that the aforementioned beneficial properties of the pristine carbon materials can be maintained.

Dissolution of graphite, graphite and graphene nanoribbons in superacid solutions and manipulation thereof


Method and apparatus for determining the presence of a predetermined pattern in a spatial field. The invention involves selecting a collection of amplitude values on the basis of location within a multivalued-amplitude field and arranging sequences of amplitude values in order of their magnitude. Amplitude values occurring at predetermined ranks are chosen as characteristic quantities representative of the portion of the field under consideration. By inter-relating a plurality of these characteristic quantities, pattern recognition is accomplished. Preferably rank value filters are employed for producing the characteristic quantities.

The invention relates to a method for deciding on the presence of a predetermined pattern at at least one position in a spatial field of data points in which field each data point has a particular amplitude value, the method comprising a comparison between first and second ranked values, the first ranked value having a first predetermined rank in a ranking according to the magnitude of a first collection of amplitude values of data points from a first set of data points at first predetermined locations relative to the position in the spatial field, the second ranked value having a second predetermined rank in a second ranking according to the magnitude of a second collection of amplitude values of data points from a second set of data points at the second predetermined locations relative to the position in the spatial field. The invention also relates to an apparatus for deciding on the presence of a predetermined pattern at at least one position in a spatial field of data points in which field each data point has a particular amplitude value, the apparatus comprising logical decision circuitry for producing a decision from a comparison of amplitude signals at inputs of the circuitry, the amplitude signals being coupled to the circuitry from rank value filters, which filters each have a filter input for receiving a spatial field signal representing the particular values of the data points and producing a ranked amplitude value that occurs at a predetermined rank in a collection of amplitude values of data points from a set of data points at predetermined locations relative to the positin in the spatial field.
A method of this kind is known from European Patent Application No. 89 202 124.7 a foreign counterpart patent to U.S. Pat. No. 5,054,095. The known method detects patterns in which the amplitude values are high in a first set of points and low in a second set of points. For example, in a camera image by way of field of data points, such a pattern would be a certain combination of light areas (the first set) and dark areas (the second set). In the known method, a pattern is said to be detected if all the amplitudes in the first set are above a certain threshold value, and all the amplitudes in the second set are below this threshold. The problem is to decide whether there exists such a threshold. For this purpose, the known method considers the two sets positioned at a predetermined relative position in the field. Subsequently, a lowest boundary value, L, of the range of amplitude values found in the first set is determined, and a highest boundary value, H, is determined for the second set. When L is larger than H, there exists a threshold value as described above, and the pattern is detected.
The known apparatus executing the known method employs a ranked value. A ranked value, R, at a rank n in a collection of mutually different amplitudes, is an amplitude from that collection such that there are exactly (n-1) amplitudes in the collection larger than R. (When the amplitudes are not necessarily mutually different, this definition becomes more complicated: there must be fewer than n amplitudes larger than R in the collection and at least n amplitudes not smaller).
A filter selecting a value at rank 1 produces the highest amplitude value; a filter selecting the amplitude value at rank, N, where N is the number of amplitude values in the collection produces the lowest amplitude value. The reason for using rank filters is that such filters can be effectively implemented in several embodiments even without explicit extraction of the collections of amplitudes. The resulting values are fed into a comparator, in the known apparatus, for forming a detection signal if L exceeds H. Alternatively, the comparator may reserve the detection signal to cases where L exceeds H by more than a predetermined amount.
Although the prior art method and apparatus perform well, they are restricted to pattern detection problems of a substantially binary nature, where there are two sets, one with amplitudes that are high, and one with amplitudes which are low, where the only problem is to decide whether there exists an acceptable threshold. It is therefore an object of the invention to extend the potential of such a method and apparatus, thereby permitting a more differentiated approach to pattern processing.

Method of processing pattern data on the basis of ranked amplitude values, and apparatus for performing the method


A liquid crystal display includes an active display area and gate drivers. The active display area includes display blocks, each display block including pixel rows. The gate driver sequentially outputs gate signals to the display block and drives corresponding pixel rows to display pixel images, or outputs a dummy gate signal to the display block to drive the corresponding pixel rows to display a compensation image for improving motion image quality. A method of driving the liquid crystal display includes using the gate drivers to sequentially drive the pixel rows of each of the display blocks to display pixel images, and using the gate driver to output a dummy gate signal to simultaneously drive the pixel rows of another display block to display the compensation image.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates in general to a liquid crystal display and a method for driving the display, and more particularly to a liquid crystal display having improved motion image quality, and a method for driving the display.
2. Description of the Related Art
Common displays can be classified into two types depending on the method for displaying images: an impulse type and a hold type. A cathode ray tube (CRT) display is an example of a conventional impulse-type display. In a CRT display, electrons are accelerated in a vacuum tube and collide with phosphor powder coated on the wall of the vacuum tube, causing the phosphor powder to emit light for displaying images. As shown in FIG. 1A, the intensity of the light gradually decays during each frame period, so that the brightness of the image is maintained for only a few milliseconds. In another example, a liquid crystal display (LCD) is a hold-type display. As shown in FIG. 1B, within each frame period, an image is shown when pixel data are written to the pixels, and the brightness of the image is maintained for an entire frame period until the next pixel data are written to the pixels.
In general, when a liquid crystal display is displaying motion images, due to its hold-type display mode, some parts of the display area will display a portion of a new frame while other parts of the display area (where new image data have not been written to the pixels) will continue to show a portion of a previous frame. When the liquid crystal display is viewed by an observer, because the display area shows a portion of a new frame and a portion of a previous frame, and because human eyes track motion images, the observed motion images will have blurred edges and residual images, thereby reducing the image quality.
To solve the problems mentioned above, typically a black image is inserted in the image display process of an LCD display to achieve an effect similar to that of a CRT display, thus improving the motion image quality. As shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B, a frame period is divided into a first sub-frame period and a second sub-frame period. During the first sub-frame period, pixel data voltages are used to drive pixels to cause the pixels to display a normal image. During the second sub-frame period, a black image is inserted by using black image voltages to drive the pixels. The black image is shown until pixel data for the next frame period are written to the pixels to cause a new normal image to be displayed. The display mode for the LCD display as shown in FIG. 2B is more similar to the display mode for a CRT shown in FIG. 1A.
Below are examples of methods for inserting a black image. In one example, black images are generated by flashing a backlight source. Due to the need for long periods of repeatedly switching on and off the backlight module, this method has the disadvantages of larger electricity consumption, reduced lifespan of the backlight, and higher production costs. When the timing of backlight flashing is not synchronized with the display signals of the liquid crystal display, double images can occur so that an observer sees double images at the edges of objects when watching the motion images.
Another example is a cyclic resetting driving design disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,473,077, which uses a double-frequency method to insert a black image. Referring to FIG. 3, using a liquid crystal display having a 640×480 resolution as an example, a gate driver (not shown) sequentially outputs 480 gate signals G1 to G480 during a first half of a frame period to drive corresponding rows of pixels to receive pixel data and display a normal image. During a second half of a frame period, the gate driver sequentially outputs 480 black image gate signals Gb1˜Gb480. This allows a normal image to be displayed during the first half of the frame period, and a black image to be inserted during the second half of the frame period.
Although the motion image quality can be improved by using the method described above, twice the number of gate signals and twice the amount of image data are used so that two images can be shown within a frame period. This requires doubling an operation frequency of the liquid crystal display, which increases the cost of the scan driver and the data driver. In the double-frequency driving design, because half of the frame period is allocated to the black image gate signals Gb1 to Gb480, only half of the frame period can be allocated to the gate signals G1 to G480, so that the period for writing pixel data is also reduced by half (from TA to TA/2). This may cause the pixels to have incorrect gray levels due to insufficient charging, and there may be increased electromagnetic interference (EMI) due to higher driving frequencies.
Referring to FIG. 4A, in another example of a cyclic resetting driving method, a display panel is divided into a matrix panel region A and a matrix panel region B that are coupled to data drivers 4 and 5, respectively. Referring to FIG. 4B, in a first half of a frame period, a gate driver 6 sequentially outputs gate signals G1 to G240 to drive the pixel rows in the matrix panel region A to receive pixel data outputted from the data driver 4 to display an image. In a second half frame period, the gate driver 6 sequentially outputs gate signals G241 to G480 to drive pixel rows in the matrix panel region B to receive pixel data output from the data driver 5 to display an image. Also during the second half frame period, the gate driver 6 sequentially outputs black image gate signals Gb1 to Gb240 to drive the pixel rows in the matrix panel region A to receive black image signals outputted from the data driver 4 to display a black image. Using this signal driving method, although the duration of each of the gate signals G1 to G480 remains the same as the original TA value, dividing the liquid crystal panel into two parts that are coupled to different data drivers increases complexity of the driving circuits and the manufacturing cost of the display.
A third example of a liquid crystal display is disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 9127917. Referring to FIG. 5, each pixel 500 is coupled to data lines Ld1 and Ld2 that are coupled to outputs of data drivers 510 and 520, respectively. Each pixel 500 is also coupled to scan lines Ls1 and Ls2 that are coupled to gate drivers 530 and 540, respectively. A normal gate signal Sg is transmitted through the scan line Ls1 to drive the pixel 500 so that the pixel 500 receives normal pixel data Dp from the data line Ld1 to display a pixel image. A black image gate signal Sd is then transmitted through the scan line Ls2 to drive the pixel 500 to receive a black signal Db from the data line Ls2 to display a black image. This method adds a scan line and a data line to each row and column of pixels, respectively, and will increase the production cost of the display and reduce the aperture ratio of the pixel.

Liquid crystal display having display blocks that display normal and compensation images


A method for estimating channel parameters includes: sending a paging signal for identifying the tag device; sending training sequence information, receiving first training sequence feedback information during a non-working period of the tag device, receiving, during a working period of the tag device, second training sequence feedback information modulated by the tag device, and estimating the channel parameters of the tag device according to the training sequence feedback information and the second training sequence feedback information. The tag device having at least one antenna of the present disclosure can modulate carrier signals to transmit information, has advantages such as a fast transmission rate, a large amount of transmission data and a strong anti-interference capability, and can adapt to different application scenarios.

The Internet of Things (IoT) is an information carrier based on the Internet and the conventional telecommunication network, which enables all ordinary things that may perform function independently to form an interconnected and intercommunicated network. The Internet of Things is generally a wireless network. Since devices around each person may reach 1,000 to 5,000, the Internet of Things may contain 500 to 1,000 mega things. With the Internet of Things, each person may use an electronic tag such as a radio frequency tag to connect real things to the Internet, such that specific locations of the real things may be found through the Internet of Things. With the Internet of Things, a centralized management and control to a machine, a device, and a person may be performed by using a central computer, a home device and a vehicle may also be remotely controlled, as well as a search for locations is performed and an article is prevented from being stolen and so on, which is similar to an automated control system. In addition, data of these small things is collected to gather into big data finally, including a significant change to the society, for example, redesigning a road to reduce a car accident, urban renewal, disaster prediction and crime prevention, epidemic control and so on, thereby achieving an interconnection between things and things. The Internet of Things digitizes the real world and has a wide range of applications. The Internet of Things gathers scattered information and integrates digital information between things and things. The Internet of Things may be applied in the fields of transportation and logistics, industrial manufacturing, health and medical, smart environment (home, office, factory), person and society and so on, and has a broad application prospect.
A radio frequency tag is a physical carrier for electronic product code (EPC). The radio frequency tag is attached to a trackable article, and may be circulated globally, identified, read and written. The radio frequency tag may include a sensor circuit configured to sense the to-be-detected information and store the detected information in the circuit of the tag. RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) technique, as a key technique for constructing the Internet of Things (IoT), has attracted attention in recent years. RFID technique is an automatic identification technique, and currently, is mainly applied in ID card and access control, supply chain and inventory tracking, vehicle toll, anti-theft, production control, asset management and so on.
A technical solution related to tag communication is provided according to the present disclosure.

Tag device in wireless communication system, electronic device, communication method, and storage medium