A live view image generation unit sequentially displays on a display screen a captured image that is sequentially outputted from an image capture unit as a live view image. In a case of photographing and recording being directed, a review image generation unit displays a captured image for recording outputted from the image capture unit as a first review image on a portion of a display screen in a state of displaying the live view image. A photographing result evaluation unit evaluates a photographing result based on a captured image for recording outputted from the image capture unit according to an direction for photographing and recording. The review image generation unit performs display control to make a display form of the first review image different according to the evaluation result by the photographing result evaluation unit.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image capture apparatus that can display a review image, a display method of an image capture apparatus, and a storage medium.
2. Related Art
Conventionally, an image capture apparatus having a review display function for displaying a captured image on an entire display screen in place of a live view image has been known which is configured so as to let a user to review captured images captured by a user's operation while displaying a live view displaying data of a captured image outputted for each predetermined time period from an image capture unit in real time on a display screen in a photographing mode. Hereinafter, a captured image displayed in real time on a display screen while displaying a live view is referred to as "live view image" and a captured image displayed for review after operation by a user is referred to as "review image".
Furthermore, an image capture apparatus having a review display function has been known which also has a function to display captured images captured by a user's operation on a portion of a display screen while displaying a live view image. Hereinafter, a captured image displayed on a portion of a display screen while displaying a live view image is referred to as "mini photographing review image".
By displaying a mini photographing review image while displaying a live view image, a live view display is no longer interrupted as in the case of a review image being displayed on an entire display screen. Therefore, it becomes possible for a user to review a photographing result while maintaining a state that allows the user to photograph promptly.
Japanese Patent Application, Publication No. 2001-117163 discloses a technology relating to an image capture apparatus that displays a mini photographing review image on a portion of a display screen while displaying a live view image.

Image capture apparatus that can display review image, image capture method, and storage medium


An amplifier, tuner, and method of amplification are provided. The amplifier has a pair of transistors. Each transistor has a control terminal and an output terminal disposed between the transistor and a power supply input. A first network is connected between each power supply input and output terminal. The first network contains a first resistor and a first switch connected in parallel with the first resistor. A second network is connected between the transistors. The second network contains a first and second combination. Each of the first and second combinations contains a second resistor and a second switch connected in parallel with the second resistor. The first and second combinations are connected by a third switch.

Television tuners receive carriers over a predetermined range, e.g. from 50 MHz to over 860 MHz for some standards. This is a relatively wide range of frequencies compared to other electronic devices, such as cellular telephones, which operate over a frequency range of 100 MHz or so. The incoming signal power to a tuner can vary by many orders of magnitude depending on a variety of factors. For example, the distance of the tuner from the signal source or the environmental conditions may cause significant changes in the signal strength for mobile tuners. In cable systems, as many as 138 channels can be present, and each channel can vary by more than 30 dB.
The change in signal strength is problematic. As the signal is introduced to the tuner, the signal is amplified by a low noise amplifier (LNA). However, if the amplitude of the signal is too large, the LNA will distort the peaks of the signal and thus degrade the output of the tuner. Accordingly, it is desirable to provide continuous control of the gain of the tuner over a wide range of input analog voltages.
However, providing control adds complexity, as well as distortion and non-linearity problems when the gain control range is extended. Altering the gain of the tuner changes the noise figure and intermodulation distortion of the tuner; noise figure generally increases as the gain decreases while intermodulation distortion increases as the gain increases. The noise figure is the ratio of the total output noise power to the output noise due to a standard input source resistance, e.g. a 50 ohm resistance or 75 ohm resistance (for cable). Intermodulation distortion of the tuner is nonlinear distortion in the output of the tuner containing frequencies that are linear combinations of the fundamental frequencies and all harmonics present in the input signals. Thus, it is also desirable to provide good linearity and a good noise figure over the entire gain control range.

High linearity and low noise amplifier with continuously variable gain control


A micromechanical sensor apparatus having a movable gate includes a field effect transistor that has a movable gate, which is separated from a channel region by a cavity. The channel region is covered by a gate insulation layer.

Although applicable to any micromechanical components, the present disclosure and the problem addressed thereby are explained with reference to silicon-based components.
Micromechanical sensor apparatuses, for example inertial sensors, are usually realized by means of a capacitive or piezoresistive transducer. Although they have been available for some time now, sensors having a movable gate are not found on the market. A major reason for this is the production of the transducer element, in particular the provision of a suitable sacrificial layer process. Silicon oxide is usually used as a sacrificial layer in micromechanics. As a result, however, the channel region and the source/drain contacts are present in an open and unprotected manner, since the gate oxide is also inevitably removed as well when the sacrificial layer is removed. The channel region is then exposed in an unprotected manner, as are the PN junctions between source/drain and channel region. As a result, surface defects are produced which influence the operating range of the transistor or lead to drift or noise and reduce the suitability as a reliable sensor element.
EP 0 990 911 A1 describes a micromechanical sensor on the basis of the field effect transistor having a movable gate, which is movable in a direction parallel to the substrate surface, wherein the movement of the gate in this direction leads to an enlargement or reduction of the channel region overlapped by the gate in at least one MOSFET.

Micromechanical sensor apparatus having a movable gate and corresponding production method


Methods and apparatus for recovering a desired signal from a composite signal. In one method, sample-based information maximization techniques for blind deconvolution are utilized to learn a filter (22) which removes undesired dependencies from the composite signal. Entropy as an expectation over individual samples of the composite signal is maximized. In another method, dependencies of the composite signal are selectively removed by learning a first filter (42) that removes the desired dependencies and outputs a filtered signal. The filtered signal is used as the learning material for a second filter (44) such that the second filter learns to remove only the remaining dependencies (undesired dependencies) from the filtered signal. The composite signal is applied to the second filter (44) which thereby removes the undesired dependencies.

The present invention relates, in general, to signal processing and, more particularly, to blind deconvolution.
Signals are commonly processed using filters to suppress or enhance desired components of the signal or to remove undesired components of the signal. Typically, the signal to be processed comprises more than simply the original or source signal and the desire is to process the signal to recover the original or source signal. Often, however, little is known about the source signal. For example, there may be no knowledge of the source signal or the particular filters, e.g., room acoustics, transmission channels, or the like, that the source signal was subjected to. The filters create time delayed versions of the signal, such as, echoes, intersymbol interference, or the like (referred to as dependencies) resulting in the signal being a composite signal.
Blind deconvolution refers to techniques utilized to remove dependencies from a composite signal to yield the source signal. The techniques are called blind because the source signal is attained without assuming any knowledge of the source signal or the dependencies. The signal may be a digital communications signal, an acoustical signal, an RF signal, or the like and the dependencies may include echoes, reverberations, intersymbol interference, or redundancies of the source signal, among other things.
More particularly, blind deconvolution refers to removing dependencies from an unknown signal s. Unknown signal s is convolved with an unknown filter having an impulse response, a (which creates the dependencies) The resulting corrupted or composite signal x is: ##EQU1## where L.sub.a is the length of filter a and the subscript t refers to time, for example, signal s comprises discrete samples x.sub.0, x.sub.1, . . . , x.sub.t-1, x.sub.t and t is the present time or most recent sample of signal x. (As used herein "*" denotes convolution.) When used with filter coefficients (as in Equation 1), the subscript refers to the delay from the current sample.
Blind deconvolution attempts to recover unknown signal s by learning a filter w which reverses the effect of unknown filter a so that ##EQU2## would be equal to the original signal s. Blind deconvolution assumes that the samples of original signal s.sub.t are statistically independent. As is seen from Equation 1, filter a spreads information from one sample s.sub.t to all samples x.sub.t, . . . , x.sub.t+La. Blind deconvolution attempts to remove these redundancies (also referred to as dependencies).
A. J. Bell and T. J. Sejnowski have shown that a suitable criterion for learning a finite impulse response (FIR) filter for blind deconvolution is to maximize the information at the output of the FIR filter, as discussed in "An information maximization approach to blind separation and blind deconvolution", Neural Computation, 7(6):1004-1034, 1995. Bell and Sejnowski proposed to learn a filter w that is a restoring causal (or adaptive) FIR filter by using an information theoretic measure. The output signal from the FIR filter is passed through a nonlinear squashing function which approximates the cumulative density function of output signal. By maximizing the information transferred through this system, Bell and Sejnowski were able to learn a FIR filter, w, that removes dependencies.
The Bell and Sejnowski approach chops the composite signal into blocks comprising a plurality of consecutive signal samples having a predetermined length, M. The filtering is formulated as a multiplication of a block by a lower triangular matrix having coefficients of filter w, followed by the nonlinear squashing function (denoted herein as function "g"). When the information at the transformed information output block is maximized, dependencies within the block are removed.
As demonstrated by Bell and Sejnowski, information maximization is equal to maximizing the entropy, H(Y), at the output, where entropy is the expectation, E, of the probability density function of the output. Maximizing the entropy is equivalent to maximizing E[ln.vertline.J.vertline.], where J is the Jacobian of the whole system. The Jacobian, J, tells how the input affects the output and, in the method developed by Bell and Sejnowski, is represented as a matrix of partial derivatives of each component of the output block with respect to each component of the input block. By computing the determinant of J and the gradient of ln.vertline.J.vertline. with respect to the coefficients of the matrix (or weights of the filter), Bell and Sejnowski derived a stochastic gradient ascent rule to update the filter coefficients over time (the adaptation rule).
While the method proposed by Bell and Sejnowski yields a good result, it has its limitations. Learning an adaptive filter by the method of Bell and Sejnowski requires complex computations. Further, the Bell and Sejnowski method and adaptation rule is limited to FIR filters. Filters such as infinite impulse response (IIR) or recursive filter cannot be learned from the Bell and Sejnowski adaptation rule because of complex recursive relationships between components of the output block and components of the input block. IIR filters, however, provide a desirable advantage over FIR filters. IIR filters can model complicated and long impulse responses with a small number of coefficients in comparison to FIR filters and do so with less computational complexity than FIR filters.
Accordingly, there is a need for a method of retrieving a source signal from a composite signal without assuming knowledge of the source signal or its dependencies that produces a good quality result without overly complex computations and which is applicable to a variety of adaptive filters.
Blind deconvolution is clearly an ideal tool to remove signal dependencies, such as echoes, of unknown delays and amplitudes. Because echoes are copies of the original or source signal delayed and summed to the original signal, they are redundancies that blind deconvolution tends to remove. While also advantageous in that blind deconvolution retrieves a source signal without knowledge of the signal, current blind deconvolution techniques have limitations when processing certain types of signals, such as, for example, speech signals.
A key assumption made with blind deconvolution is that the original or source signal, s, is white; meaning that consecutive signal samples, s.sub.i and s.sub.j, are statistically independent for all times i and j, where i.noteq.j. While this assumption may be true for signals in digital communications, it is not true for many acoustic signals. For example, speech signals exhibit very strong inherent dependencies when i-j.sup.<.sub..apprxeq. 4 milliseconds, i.e., two consecutive samples of speech (s.sub.i and s.sub.j) are dependent on each other, and this dependency has a scope of approximately four (4) milliseconds. Speech signals are comprised of vocal cord vibrations filtered by the vocal tract, thereby producing short term or inherent dependencies within the speech signal. In addition to these short term dependencies, longer term or noninherent dependencies (e.g. greater than approximately 4 milliseconds for speech signals) are often present in the signal, such as echoes due to room acoustics, transmission reflections, or the like.
Blind deconvolution learns to remove time dependencies present within a signal that fall with in the length of the deconvolution filter w. Thus, while learning to remove dependencies, such as those due to echoes, blind deconvolution also learns to remove the dependencies that are inherent to the speech itself. When processing a speech signal to remove echoes and recover the source signal, commonly referred to as echo cancellation, it is not desirable to remove or filter out the inherent dependencies of the speech that are present in the source signal. The result of doing so is a filtered or whitened speech signal, which sounds like a high-pass filtered version of the original speech.
With current blind deconvolution methods of signal processing, only when there is exact knowledge about the delays of the echoes, can this whitening effect be avoided. In theory, by forcing some filter coefficients to zero, or having taps only at multiples of the delay, the filter would learn the amplitude of the echo to cancel. In practical situations, however, this is not possible because, generally, there are multiple echoes.
Other known techniques for echo cancellation, including, for example, adaptive filters trained by Least Mean Squares (LMS) and Cepstral processing, are also inadequate.
Adaptive filters trained by LMS techniques are beneficial in that they can adapt to changing conditions, such as to moving or varying sources, and they produce a good quality result with relatively low computational complexity. However, training adaptive filters by LMS has limitations. LMS trained adaptive filter techniques require knowledge of the source signal but, often the only known signal is the composite signal. Thus, if the source signal is unknown, LMS trained adaptive filter techniques are of no use.
Cepstral processing techniques permit processing of a composite signal without knowledge of the source signal. With Cepstral processing, the composite signal is processed through a series of Fourier transforms, inverse Fourier transforms, logarithmic and anti-logarithmic operations to reproduce the source signal. Although beneficial in that knowledge of the source signal is not required, Cepstral processing techniques employ complex computations and produce results of only moderate quality. Moreover, although knowledge of the source signal is not required, Cepstral processing requires knowledge of the delays of the echoes, and Cepstral processing techniques are not adaptable to changing conditions.
Accordingly, there is a need for a method of processing signals without knowledge of the original or source signal or its dependencies that retains "desirable" dependencies, such as dependencies inherent to the signal itself, while removing "undesirable" dependencies, such as non-inherent dependencies.

Method for recovering a source signal from a composite signal and apparatus therefor


The subject invention pertains to materials and methods for transformed plants and plant tissues that are capable of expressing high levels of stable proteins which are localized as protein bodies within the plant cell. Transformed plants co-expressing high levels of both the 15 kD and 10 kD zein proteins are disclosed which accumulate to high levels as protein bodies in the vegetative tissue of the plant. Transformed plants co-expressing the 15 kD and 10 kD zein proteins are useful for providing forage crops containing increased levels of sulfur containing amino acids, such as methionine, in the diet of animals that normally feed on such crops. Also contemplated by the subject invention are transformed plants or plant tissue comprising stable protein bodies which contain heterologous proteinaceous material. In one embodiment, a stable protein body is expressed in a plant or plant tissue as a fusion protein comprising a zein protein and an operably linked protein or peptide. The protein bodies provided in the present invention are resistant to rumin digestion or environmental degradation.

Alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) is considered to be the most important cultivated forage crop in the world (Hanson et al., 1988; Michaud et al., 1988) and is often referred to as "Queen of the forage crops" because it is widely grown, has a superb balance of vitamins and minerals, is high yielding, is an excellent source of biological nitrogen fixation, and it serves as an attractive nectar source for honeybees (Barnes et al., 1988; Smoliak and Bjorge, 1983). Alfalfa has been bred for years for both forage quality and plant performance. Although alfalfa and other leguminous forage crops are high in protein, these plants are deficient in the sulfur amino acids (S-amino acids), methionine and cysteine (Kaldy et al., 1979). It has been shown that wool growth in sheep is limited by the availability of S-amino acids. Similarly, milk production by dairy animals is affected by the deficiency of S-amino acids in plants. Efforts to use conventional plant breeding and cell selection techniques to increase the S-amino acid content of alfalfa have met with little or no success.
A genetic engineering approach to improve the amino acid balance of alfalfa and other forage crops would be to introduce into these plants genes encoding proteins high in methionine driven by a strong constitutive promoter or a leaf promoter. In order to significantly alter the amino acid balance of legume forage, the foreign proteins should contain about 15 to 25% of S-amino acids and constitute 5 to 10% of the total leaf protein. To achieve these levels of protein accumulation, one has to ensure not only maximum levels of transcription and translation of the gene but also the stability of the protein. In regard to forage crops for ruminant animals, the digestibility of S-amino acid containing proteins by the rumen bacteria and the stomach enzymes is also an extremely critical issue in regard to providing a suitable forage crop for ruminant animals, but is often overlooked. Thus, the S-amino acid rich protein should be relatively resistant to degradation in the rumen (first stomach) of the ruminant animals and should be assimilated in the lower gastrointestinal tract.
Most of the concerted efforts in regard to nutritional improvement in plants has focused on seed proteins. Since corn and other cereal crops are not easily transformable, most work directed to seed protein modification has involved testing stability of modified prolamine proteins in transgenic tobacco (Williamson et al., 1988; Ohtani et al., 1990) and Xenopus oocytes (Wallace et al. 1988). The synthesis of lysine containing .alpha. zeins was also analyzed in transgenic tobacco and petunia seeds (Williamson et al., 1988; Ohtani et al., 1990). Both the normal and modified protein were found to have a very short half-life.
Efforts to improve the S-amino acid content of legume seed proteins have included introducing a 45 bp oligonucleotide containing six methionine codons into the third exon of a .beta.-phaseolin gene. Transformants containing this modified gene showed that the high methionine phaseolin was synthesized at the same level as the normal protein, but was very unstable and was rapidly turned over (Hoffman et al., 1988). Introduction of the extra amino acids in the .beta.-phaseolin protein probably caused a distortion in its secondary structure making it more susceptible to proteolytic degradation. DeClercq et al. (1990), replaced a 23 amino acid coding segment between the sixth and seventh cysteine residues of Arabidopsis 2S albumin, with three different high methionine coding fragments. These modified Arabidopsis 2S genes were transformed into A. thaliana, B. napus and tobacco. There was some accumulation of the protein in the seeds but not as much as predicted. (Chrispeefs, M., personal communication). The gene of the 2S albumin of Brazil nut, which contains up to 19% methionine, and driven by the .beta.-phaseolin gene promoter, has been introduced into tobacco (Guerche et al., 1990), rape (Altenbach et al., 1992) and soybean (Pioneer Seed Co.). Recently, Saalbach et al. (1994) synthesized the 2S albumin gene and engineered it behind the CaMV 35S promoter. The gene, when introduced into tobacco and some grain legumes, showed the highest level of expression in the plant leaves and the protein was localized in vacuoles. However, the Brazil nut albumin protein is extremely allergenic and may not be acceptable for consumption.
One approach to increase the pools of particular amino acids in plants has been to introduce bacterial genes encoding for key regulatory enzymes in amino acid biosynthetic pathways in plants. A bacterial gene encoding for aspartate kinase which is desensitized to feedback inhibition by lysine and threonine was fused to the .beta.-phaseolin gene promoter and introduced into tobacco. The seeds of the transgenic tobacco showed increased levels of free threonine and methionine (Karchi et al., 1993; Galili, 1995).
Very little effort has been made with regards to improving forage crop protein quality. Schoeder et al., (1991) introduced the chicken ovalbumin gene (cDNA), driven by a CaMV 35S promoter, into alfalfa. The transgenic alfalfa plants, however, showed very low level accumulation of the protein in the leaves (0.005%). The basis for such a low abundance of this protein in the transgenic alfalfa leaves was not determined.
Some efforts to obtain alfalfa mutants that have larger free methionine levels have also been attempted at the University of Wisconsin. Cell lines with resistance to growth inhibition by an amino acid analogs reportedly produce higher than normal amounts of the corresponding natural amino acid. Hence, growth on specific amino acid analogs has been used as selection tool to select for plants accumulating high levels of a particular amino acid. Amino acid over-production is usually due to relaxed feedback control of an enzyme involved in its production (Malega, 1978). In an attempt to improve the methionine content of alfalfa, mutagenized suspension culture cells of alfalfa were selected for resistance to growth inhibition by a methionine analog (Reish et al., 1981). A few cell lines containing high methionine pools were obtained, however, regeneration of these cell lines did not produce plants with high methionine content (personal communication, Bingham, ET).
Zeins are a group of alcohol soluble proteins that are synthesized during endosperm development in corn and constitute 50% of the total protein in mature seeds (Lee et al., 1976). The zeins can be divided into four groups, the .alpha., .beta., .gamma. and .delta., based on their solubility (Larkins et al., 1989). The zeins can also be separated by size into groups. The .alpha. zeins, which is the most abundant class, are made up of the 22 kD and 19 kD zeins; the central region of these proteins consists of repetitive peptides of about 20 amino acid residues (Argos, 1982). The .beta. zeins comprise the 15 kD zein which contains less proline and glutamine than the .alpha. zeins. The .gamma. zeins include the 27 kD and 16 kD class and are very rich in proline (25%). The .delta. zeins are a relatively minor class consisting of the 10 kD zein (Kirihara et al., 1988). All the zein classes are structurally unique. The repeat regions in the .alpha. and .gamma. zeins probably have a major role in the packing of protein bodies. Zeins, in general, contain extremely low levels of the essential amino acids lysine, tryptophan and to a lesser extent methionine. The 15 kD and 10 kD zeins, however, are distinguished by their extremely high methionine content (10% and 22.5%, respectively) (Giannaza et al., 1977).
The zeins are synthesized on the rough endoplasmic reticulum (RER) and they aggregate into protein bodies directly in the RER (Larkins and Hurkman, 1978). Based on the analysis of the zein composition of developing protein bodies in corn endosperm, Lending and Larkins (1989), have proposed a descriptive model for the pattern of zein deposition during protein body formation in corn endosperm: The .beta. and .gamma. zeins are the first to start accumulating within the RER. Subsequently, .alpha. zeins begin to accumulate as locules within the .beta. and .gamma. zeins. With time, the a zein locules fuse and form a central core while the .beta. and .gamma. zeins form a continuous layer around the periphery of the protein body. In a separate study, Esen and Stetter (1992), demonstrated that the .delta. zein occurs throughout the core region of the protein body.
Mutations in maize affect the expression of the different zein genes. Changes in zein gene expression in turn have direct impact on the amino acid composition of the seeds. Seeds of plants homozygous for the recessive mutation opaque-2, have increased levels of lysine compared to the wild-type seeds (Misra et al., 1972). The increase in lysine is due to the reduced expression of the 22 kD .alpha. zeins (Langridge et al., 1983). The inbred line BSSS-53 has 30% higher level of seed methionine compared to other inbred lines. This increase in methionine content is because of a two-fold increase in the level of the 10 kD zein (Phillips and McClure 1985).
Proteins that accumulate in the endoplasmic reticulum are known to have the amino acid sequence Lys(his) Asp Glu Leu (K(H)DEL) near their carboxy terminal end which prevents them from exiting into the Golgi (Pelham, 1990). The zeins and other prolamines, however, lack this sequence. A cognate of the 70-kD heat shock protein, BiP which functions as a molecular chaperone has been shown to be involved in the formation of prolamine protein body formation in rice endosperm (Li et al., 1993b). The involvement of BiP in the formation of zein protein bodies is based on the fact that BiP accumulates to high levels in the ER and on the abnormal protein bodies of some of the zein regulatory mutants of corn (Boston et al., 1991; Zhang & Boston, 1992). Overall, however, the mechanisms of zein targeting and assembly in protein bodies are poorly understood and it is not known whether inter- and intra-molecular interactions play a key role in protein body formation. Abe et al. (1991), have suggested that the cytoskeleton plays a role in the biogenesis of zein protein bodies.
As can be understood from the above, there remains a need in the art for plants and forage crops that contain stable protein bodies that are high in S-amino acid content. The subject invention provides a novel and advantageous means for improving the forage quality of plants.


A method and system for monitoring the integrity of a structure such as a building or a bridge includes taking accelerometer readings using an accelerometer and taking inclinometer readings using an inclinometer. The accelerometer and inclinometer each take readings in at least one axis, with one coincident axis between the two. The accelerometer readings are preferentially sampled at a higher rate than the inclinometer readings. Accelerometer readings verify inclinometer readings, and vice-versa. Using acceleration readings, it can be determined whether, when, and at what frequency inclination readings should be taken. The inclinometer can be powered down as long as accelerometer readings indicate that the environment would strain the inclinometer. Inclinometer readings can also be modified and corrected using inclinometer readings. Data accuracy and reliability are enhanced, and the overall integrity of a structure is dynamically monitored even as the structure and its environment change over time.

Man-made and natural structures such as bridges, buildings, roads, parking garages, amusement park rides, hills, and the ground can move as a result of many influences. A structure can, for example, move from changes in its load (such as increases or decreases in the number of occupants, cars, trains, etc.), externally-induced vibration (such as vibration from local traffic, construction, earthquakes, wind, etc.), and other factors. If motions remain within a structure's design parameters, the structure is not likely to be at risk or a safety hazard. However, structures are at the mercy of their environment, and natural and unnatural influences have the potential for exerting more force on the structure than it is safely able to withstand. Also, a structure's ability to withstand forces may deteriorate from age, inadequate maintenance, or improper modification. Identifying damaging environmental inputs and unacceptable structural responses is critical for maintaining the safety and viability of the structure.
An accelerometer may be used to detect vibrations experienced by a structure, but accelerometers do not reveal whether the structure is tilting. An inclinometer may be used to detect changes in tilt, but they are designed to measure fixed angles that are maintained or constant and are thus not well-suited for dynamic environments. Inclinometers have a low sampling rate because they are designed to measure the low-frequency phenomenon of tilt with respect to gravity. Neither an accelerometer nor an inclinometer can by itself accurately discern motion from tilt. Acceleration signals may show up as artificial tilt, and tilt may show up as partial acceleration. For applications demanding precision, knowing what is inclination and what is acceleration can make a significant difference. When a building responds to a dynamic input, the responses are complex motions that have vibrations, inclinations, displacements, and roll components intermingled with each other and masking one another, making it very difficult to ascertain actual responses.
Also, inclinometers are sensitive, high-precision devices intended for relatively quiet environments, and they are consequently susceptible to damage in extreme environments. But by the time an unacceptable condition is observed using an inclinometer, it is usually too late to power down the inclinometer to prevent damage.
One representative dynamic environment is railway bridges, which are "live load" structures that carry more weight than their mass. That is, the weight of trains and train cars that traverse railway bridges often weigh many more times than the railway bridge itself. As a result, the bridge elements (spans, piers, and columns) move and vibrate tremendously when carrying the weight of trains. Such motions and vibrations cause conventional inclinometers to misread, and expose inclinometers to motions beyond their operational limits. As a consequence of such compromised performance, bridge engineers are not able to get a true reading during loading, and often are left with damaged sensor elements after loading.
What is needed is a monitoring method and system that can reliably monitor the overall integrity of a structure by overcoming these and other shortcomings.

Sensor and monitoring system for structural monitoring


The disclosure is directed to the keyboard injection of passwords from a password vault application on a mobile computing device to a computing system coupled to the keyboard. A method according to embodiments includes: wirelessly receiving a password at a physical keyboard; and transmitting the password from the keyboard to a computing system.

A password is a word or string of characters used for user authentication to prove identity or access authentication to gain access to a resource (e.g., a computer device). A password, although very vulnerable to hacking, is still the most common method for authentication. Recent studies have confirmed that the worst passwords are in fact the most commonly used. For example, the passwords "12345," "password," "qwerty," and "letmein" are some of the widely used passwords around the world.
Other authentication methods, such as fingerprint or facial recognition, have also been employed, but have proven to be less than 100% secure. Multi-factor authentication, as well as smart cards and other hardware-based authentication devices, have also been developed.
A password vault application assists in generating and retrieving complex passwords, potentially storing such passwords in an encrypted database, or calculating them on demand. Types of password vault applications may include, for example, locally installed software applications, online services accessed through website portals, or locally accessed hardware devices that serve as keys. Depending on the type of password manager used and on the functionality offered by its developers, the encrypted database is either stored locally on a user's device (e.g., mobile device or computer device) or stored remotely through an online file-hosting service. Password vault applications typically require a user to generate and remember one "master" password to unlock and access any information stored in their databases.

International Business Machines Corporation


An ultra-low heat laser that does not rely on florescence cooling. Generally, the inventive laser includes a pump source operable at a pump frequency and a gain medium disposed to receive energy from the source and lase at a frequency close to the pump frequency. In the illustrative embodiment, the laser is a solid state laser having a gain medium which is resonantly pumped to lase at a frequency within 5% of the pump frequency. However, in the best mode and in accordance with the present teachings, the gain medium lases at a frequency within 1% of the pump frequency. In the illustrative embodiment, the laser gain medium ion has a rich Stark energy level structure and the laser active gain medium has oscillator strengths at transitions wavelengths that allow an ultra-low quantum defect operation. The pump source has a wavelength output centered to correspond to a predetermined pump band and an emission band subtended by an absorption bandwidth thereof.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to lasers. More specifically, the present invention relates to high-efficiency lasers and methods for fabricating same.
2. Description of the Related Art
Highly efficient lasers are needed for applications ranging from active sensors to high-energy lasers for directed energy weapons. Due to the high efficiency thereof, solid-state lasers have proven to be very useful for these applications. Unfortunately, when scaled to high average power levels, waste heat generated by these lasers typically cause thermal gradients in the gain media thereof. As the thermal gradients diminish the quality of the output beam, a heat management system is typically required in conjunction with systems for correcting the beam distortion caused by the waste heat. The waste heat is due to a non-ideal conversion of pump light to laser light. This defect is referred to as a 'quantum defect', the ratio of the photon frequency or energy of the laser divided by the photon frequency or energy of the pump.
Conventional approaches to the problem of waste heat in solid-state lasers include efforts to increase the efficiency thereof. Neodymium YAG lasers for example have shown efficiencies of approximately 70%, close to the quantum defect thereof. However, the sensible heat for these lasers remains substantial.
Ytterbium YAG lasers have also shown encouraging efficiency levels at or near 80%. However, scaling of these lasers to kilowatt levels requires a sophisticated thermal management system notwithstanding the efficiency thereof.
Radiation balanced or non-exothermic laser systems such as that disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,370,172, issued Apr. 9, 2002; to S. R. Bowman, the teachings of which are hereby incorporated herein by reference, have been considered. This reference discloses a resonantly pumped laser in which the upper laser state manifold is the level that is being pumped into. That is, in a two level system, the pump manifolds have sublevels known as 'Stark energy levels'. Pumping into the Stark energy levels yields lasing action at different Stark energy levels. This approach is referred to a 'resonant pumping' and Yb3+:YAG and Er3+:YAG lasers—for example—are referred to as 'resonant pumped lasers'.
With the radiation balanced approach, an Ytterbium (Yb3+) based crystal laser gain medium is chosen so that the pump frequency is lower than the mean florescence frequency so that a balance is achieved whereby the mean florescence frequency is equal to the pump laser frequency plus the laser frequency. Unfortunately, this approach is challenging and problematic in that the florescence rates must be fast enough in order to meet the second requirement namely, the spontaneous emission rate times the mean fluorescence frequency plus the stimulated emission (laser emission) rate times the laser frequency must be equal to the pumping rate times the pump frequency. Since fluorescence emission is the means for cooling, the gain geometry must be such that the fluorescence emission is effectively dispatched outside the lasing medium in order to prevent re-absorption into the gain medium which would diminish the cooling effect. This typically puts severe restrictions on the laser gain geometry such that at least one optically thin dimension is required.
Consequently, this approach is heavily dependent on florescence cooling to achieve a low heat laser design. Florescence cooling approaches are limited in that generally, three requirements that must be met: 1) the mean fluorescence frequency must be higher than the pump frequency; 2) the fluorescence rates must be sufficiently high as mentioned above; and 3) the florescence re-absorption must be minimized for the waste heat to escape.
Hence, a need remains in the art for a highly efficient laser with a substantially reduced need for thermal management.


The present disclosure provides borate or aluminate activators comprising cations having linear alkyl groups, catalyst systems comprising, and methods for polymerizing olefins using such activators.

Polyolefins are widely used commercially because of their robust physical properties. Polyolefins are typically prepared with a catalyst that polymerizes olefin monomers. Therefore, there is interest in finding new catalysts and catalyst systems that provide polymers having improved properties.
Catalysts for olefin polymerization are often based on metallocenes as catalyst precursors, which are activated either with an alumoxane or an activator containing a non-coordinating anion. A non-coordinating anion, such as tetrakis(pentafluorophenyl)borate, is capable of stabilizing the resulting metal cation of the catalyst. Because such activators are fully ionized and the corresponding anion is highly non-coordinating, such activators can be effective as olefin polymerization catalyst activators. However, because they are ionic salts, such activators are insoluble in aliphatic hydrocarbons and only sparingly soluble in aromatic hydrocarbons. It may be advantageous to conduct polymerizations of α-olefins in aliphatic hydrocarbon solvents due to the compatibility of such solvents with the olefin monomer and in order to reduce the aromatic hydrocarbon content of the resulting polymer product. Typically, ionic salt activators are added to such polymerizations in the form of a solution in an aromatic solvent such as toluene. The use of even a small quantity of such an aromatic solvent to dissolve the activator may be undesirable since the aromatics must be removed in a post-polymerization devolatilization step and separated from other volatile components, which is a process that adds significant cost and complexity to commercial processes. In addition, the activators often exist in the form of an oily, intractable material which is not readily handled and metered or precisely incorporated into the reaction mixture.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,919,983 discloses polymerization of ethylene and octene using a catalyst system including [(C18)2MeNH)]+[B(PhF5)4]− activator having four fluoro-phenyl groups bound to the boron atom and two linear C18 groups bound to the nitrogen, as well as describing other linear groups at column 3, line 51 et seq.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,642,497 discloses the preparation of N,N-dimethylanilinium tetrakis(heptafluoronaphth-2-yl)borate anion.
US 2003/0013913 (granted as U.S. Pat. No. 7,101,940) discloses various activators such as N,N-dimethylcyclohexylammoniumtetrakis(pentafluorophenyl)borate [0070], and N,N-diethylbenzylammoniumtetrakis(pentafluorophenyl)borate [0124].
US 2002/0062011 discloses phenyldioctadecylammonium (hydroxyphenyl) tris(pentafluorophenyl) borate at paragraph [0200] and (pentafluorophenyl) dioctadecylammonium tetrakis(pentafluorophenyl) borate at paragraph [0209].
U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,799,879; 7,985,816; 8,580,902; 8,835,587 and WO 2010/014344 describe ammonium borate activators that include some that use a tetrakis(heptafluoronaphth-2-yl)borate anion.
There is a need for activators that are soluble in aliphatic hydrocarbons and capable of producing polyolefins having high molecular weight and high melt temperature. Likewise, there is a need for activators that are soluble in aliphatic hydrocarbons and capable of producing polyolefins at high activity levels where the polymers may have high molecular weights, high melt temperatures, and reduced or eliminated aromatic content.
References of interest include: WO 2002/002577; U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,087,602; 8,642,497; 6,121,185; 8,642,497; 8,519,037; US 2015/0203602; and U.S. Ser. No. 62/662,972 filed Apr. 26, 2018, CAS Number 1225373-54-5 (N1,N1,N5,N5-tetrabutyl-1,5-naphthalenylenediamine); CAS Number 1159250-18-6 (N1,N1,N5,N5-tetraoctyl-1,5-naphthalenylenediamine); U.S. Ser. No. 16/394,174, filed Apr. 25, 2019; U.S. Ser. No. 16/394,186, filed Apr. 25, 2019; U.S. Ser. No. 16/394,197, filed Apr. 25, 2019; U.S. Ser. No. 16/394,520, filed Apr. 25, 2019; and U.S. Ser. No. 16/394,566, filed Apr. 25, 2019; U.S. Ser. No. 16/394,166, filed Apr. 25, 2019; and U.S. Ser. No. 62/882,088 filed Aug. 2, 2019.
Englund, V. et al. (2009) "High Efficiency Voltage Stabalizers for XLPE Cable Insulation," Polymer Degredation and Stability, v.94(5), pp. 823-833.

Non-coordinating anion type activators containing cation having aryldiamine groups and uses thereof


This invention relates to a toy hitting rod and in particular to one which includes a main hitting rod made of resilient material and formed with a longitudinal hole at the center and two aligned holes at one end thereof, an inner hitting rod made of resilient material and inserted into the longitudinal hole of the main hitting rod, a spring sleeved on one end of the inner hitting rod, a hand grip made of hard material and having a recess for taking a firm hold thereto, the grip having a connecting rod having a through hole in alignment with the aligned holes of the main hitting rod, the connecting rod being provided with two protuberances engageable with the other end of the spring, the hand grip further having a flange at its intermediate portion, a guard plate made of resilient material and having a hole at the center, a casing put over the main hitting rod and having two aligned holes in alignment with the two aligned holes of the main hitting rod, and a limiting collar composed of two semi-cylindrical members and having a neck portion on which is force-fitted the guard plate, whereby the toy hitting rod may be of high resiliency, long service life, and appealing appearance.

Heretofore, it has been found that various kinds of toy hitting rod have been sold in the marketplace, but none of them are satisfactory in use.
As shown in FIGS. 4, 5 and 8A, the prior art toy hitting rod is composed of a soft rod 9, a connecting member 91, a guard plate 9, and a hand grip 95. One end of the soft rod 9 is inserted into a recess 92 of the connecting member 91, and the tail rod 93 of the connecting member 91 is inserted into the longitudinal hole 96 of the hand grip 95 through the center hole 94 of the guard plate 90.
FIGS. 6, 7 and 8B show another prior art toy hitting rod. As illustrated, the prior art toy hitting rod is composed of a rod 8 made of soft material and having a recess 81, a hand grip 82 having a flange 85 and a connecting rod 83, and a guard plate 80.
However, such toy hitting rods are easily permanently deformed, damaged or broken. Besides, the rods are made of foamed plastics and so they are ugly in appearance and cannot be printed with any characters or signs.
Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a toy hitting rod which may obviate and mitigate the above-mentioned drawbacks.


Provided is high purity nickel or nickel alloy target for magnetron sputtering having superior sputtering film uniformity and in which the magnetic permeability of the target is 100 or more, and this high purity nickel or a nickel alloy target for magnetron sputtering capable of achieving a favorable film uniformity (evenness of film thickness) and superior in plasma ignition (firing) even during the manufacturing process employing a 300 mm wafer. The present invention also provides the manufacturing method of such high purity nickel or nickel alloy target.

The present invention relates to a nickel or nickel alloy sputtering target superior in film uniformity (evenness of film thickness) and plasma ignition (firing) performance, and the manufacturing method thereof.
The sputtering method is widely used as the method for forming a magnetic thin film on the likes of a hard disk magnetic recording medium, magnetic head, LSI chip and so on.
This sputtering method makes a positive electrode target and a negative electrode target face each other, and generates an electric field by applying a high voltage between the substrates thereof and the targets under an inert gas atmosphere. The sputtering method employs a fundamental principle where plasma is formed pursuant to the collision of electrons, which are ionized at such time, and the inert gas, the positive ion in this plasma extrudes the atoms structuring the target by colliding with the target surface, and the extruded atoms adhere to the opposing substrate surface, wherein the film is formed thereby.
For most of the sputtering performed today, a method referred to as magnetron sputtering is employed. This magnetron sputtering method sets a magnet on the back side of the target, and generates a magnetic field in the perpendicular direction with the electric field on the target surface in order to perform sputtering. As a result, enabled is the stabilization and high purification of plasma in such a perpendicular magnetic field space, and there is an advantage in that the sputtering speed can be increased.
Generally, this type of magnetron sputtering method is employed for forming on a substrate a magnetic thin film such as a ferromagnetic body or ferromagnetic body formed from Ni, Co or the like. Although the magnetron sputtering method is able to capture electrons within the magnetic field and efficiently ionize the sputtering gas, when the target is magnetic, the target itself affects the magnetic field in the vicinity of the sputtering face with its magnetic properties.
In recent years, particularly as the gate material, the use of nickel or nickel alloy has been proposed in place of cobalt since it possesses characteristics of having a low silicide forming temperature, electrical resistance of the film being low, silicon used in the silicide reaction being small, and so on.
In general, there is a problem in that it is extremely difficult to perform magnetron sputtering to a ferromagnetic body for magnetically creating a closed circuit. Nevertheless, recently, a ferromagnetic target formed from nickel or nickel alloy is also able to obtain sufficient deposition rate so as long as the thickness of the nickel or nickel alloy target is roughly 5 mm due to the improvement in the magnetron sputtering device employing the likes of a powerful magnet.
Nonetheless, to put it in other words, with a target formed from nickel or nickel alloy, there is a significant task of processing the target to obtain a thin and even film having thickness of 5 mm or less, preferably 3 mm or less.
Further, when employing a target having uneven magnetic properties within the sputtering face, the deepest part of the erosion portion will become strained, and there is a problem in that the scheduled film thickness distribution cannot be obtained. It could be said that a nickel or nickel alloy target, which is magnetic, particularly shows this kind of tendency.
With a flat rolled target material, the strain is not isotropic as a matter of course. In other words, it becomes an aggregate structure in which crystal grains are extended in one direction. Therefore, when viewing this three dimensionally, and even within the rolling face, anisotropy will arise in the magnetic properties.
Although a nickel or nickel alloy target employs magnetic anisotropy, it has a drawback in that strain or the like exists as is in the internal structure.
When cutting a discoid target from this kind of rolled sheet and preparing a target, the portion where erosion should progress by nature will be extended in one direction.
Fundamentally, upon performing deposition on a circular substrate, it was expected that the erosion portion would be circular by nature, and there is a problem in that an even film thickness could not be obtained on such a circular substrate.
In light of the above, since the thickness of deposition usually affects the magnetic properties, it is necessary to obtain a certain degree of film thickness and which is even. Nevertheless, the gate film may be thin, and the deposition rate and film thickness do not usually cause any problems.
In the foregoing deposition characteristics, however, the film uniformity (evenness of film thickness) significantly influences the properties of the gate film, and, in particular, this is becoming a major problem in the recent 300 mm wafer process.
The present invention was devised in view of the foregoing problems or drawbacks, and an object thereof is to provide a high purity nickel or nickel alloy target for magnetron sputtering capable of achieving a favorable film uniformity (evenness of film thickness) and superior in plasma ignition (firing) performance even during the manufacturing process employing a 300 mm wafer, as well as the manufacturing method thereof.

Target of high-purity nickel or nickel alloy and its producing method


In a photoelectric conversion device having a buried layer in a part of an anode and a cathode of a photodiode, such as a CCD having a sensor structure and a CMOS sensor, well of the same conduction type as the conduction type of the buried layer can be disposed in a peripheral circuit and the potential of each well is independently controlled.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a photoelectric conversion device used as an image pickup device of a digital camera and the like and a method of manufacturing the photoelectric conversion device. This photoelectric conversion device relates to a semiconductor device having a buried layer in part of an anode or a cathode of a photodiode, such as a CCD having a sensor structure and a CMOS sensor.
2. Related Background Art
As prior art there is a photoelectric conversion device having a buried layer in a photodiode of a CCD and a CMOS sensor.
FIG. 4 is a conceptual drawing which shows the sectional structure of a photodiode part of a conventional photoelectric conversion device. The reference numeral 401 denotes a semiconductor substrate of Si etc. (the N type, by way of example), the numeral 402 a buried layer which defines the lower part of a photodiode (the P type, by way of example), the numeral 403 an epitaxial layer (the N type, by way of example), the numeral 404 a barrier diffusion layer, which defines a transverse photosensitive region of the photodiode (the P type, by way of example), and the numeral 405 a charge-storage diffusion layer of the photodiode (the N type, by way of example).
For a photodiode structure, it is possible to consider a CCD and a CMOS sensor under the same configuration requirements. In the case of this structure, the region surrounded by the buried layer 402 and the barrier diffusion layer 404 becomes a photosensitive region of each sensor. In this structure, the spectral responsibility of a sensor is determined by the material properties of the epitaxial layer 403, the position from the surface of the buried layer 402 and the concentration distribution of impurities in the buried layer 402. When the buried layer 402 is formed from Si, in order to adapt the spectral responsibility to the visible rays of human beings, it is desirable that the peak of the impurity concentration of the buried layer 402 be at a depth of not less than 3 μm from the surface.
What should be considered in this connection is how to form this buried layer 402. Prior art includes a method by which an epitaxial layer 403 is formed after the formation of a buried layer 402, as disclosed in the Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2000-232214 (pages 5 and 6, FIG. 2) and a method by which after the formation of an epitaxial layer 403, a buried layer 402 is later formed by use of the high-energy ion implantation process, as disclosed in the Japanese Patent Application Laid Open No. H09-246514 (paragraph 0073, FIG. 2). When a buried layer is to be formed on the whole area of a substrate 401 surface, both methods have no problem. However, when a buried layer 402 is to be formed in part of a substrate 401 surface, patterning by the photolithography process etc. is necessary in the former method. In the latter method, it is necessary to use an extremely thick mask for ion implantation.
On the basis of the above-described precondition, it is thought that in a peripheral part of a sensor, a driving circuit by a MOS transistor etc. is disposed in the same substrate. Not only in a CMOS sensor naturally, but also in a CCD, it is desirable that both an NMOS and a PMOS can be disposed in a peripheral part.
On the precondition that the number of steps be not to be increased, as described above, the buried layer 402 extends over the whole area of the substrate 401. In other words, it follows that the buried layer 402 is present also in the lower part where the MOS transistor is to be disposed. By way of example, a case where the substrate 401 and the epitaxial layer 403 are of the N type and the buried layer 402 is of the P type is considered.
When both N type wells and P type wells are disposed in a peripheral circuit part, the N type wells become electrically connected via the epitaxial layer 403 and obtain the same potential. However, the P type wells are in a separated state and electrically independent, and there is a possibility that the P type wells can be individually controlled.
In order to ensure a completely electrical isolation, the formation of a structure which leads to the lower buried layer 402 is the most important problem. When the P type wells and the buried layer 402 are connected, the multiple P type wells obtain the same potential via the buried layer 402. When a peripheral circuit is built by use of a CMOS, this limits the degree of freedom of the circuit and hence this is undesirable.
If the buried layer 402 is fabricated in an area except the peripheral circuit part and not over the whole area of the substrate 401, the isolation problem of P type wells is easy as described above. In this case, however, the number of steps increases and the mask problem arises. Thus in any case, problems related to the patterning of the buried layer 402 remain.
Furthermore, even when the P type wells are not connected directly to the buried layer 402, the impurity concentration of the epitaxial layer 403 is not more than the order of 1E15 (1×1015)/cm3 at most. Therefore, it is difficult to ensure an electrical isolation of the P type wells in the parasitic bipolar structure of buried layer 402-epitaxial layer 403-P type wells.
The above-described situation applies to a case where all the conduction type are reversed.

Semiconductor device, photoelectric conversion device and method of manufacturing same

Abstract: In a photoelectric conversion device which is constructed in such a manner that on the whole area of a substrate of a specific conduction type there are disposed a buried layer of a conduction type opposite to the conduction type of the substrate and an epitaxial layer of the same conduction type as the conduction type of the substrate and that well of a conduction type opposite to the conduction type of the substrate are present in a part of the epitaxial layer, buried layer for well isolation of the same conduction type as the conduction type of the substrate which have a higher concentration than the epitaxial layer is disposed between the lower part of the well and the buried layer.


A solid state drive has a power failure savings mode that permits a reduction in holdup time for a temporary backup power supply. The solid state drive stores data in a multi-level cell (MLC) mode. In a power fail saving mode system metadata is written in a pseudo Single Level Cell (pSLC) mode. In the normal operating mode page writes are performed in complete blocks. In the power fail save saving mode data from a write buffer is written and additional dummy pages written to reduce the total number of pages that must be written to below a complete block size with the dummy pages providing protection from data corruption.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing the main components of a solid state drive (SSD) in accordance with the prior art. The Solid State Drive includes a non-volatile memory in the form of a multi-level cell (MLC) flash memory array 105, a flash controller 110, dynamic random access memory (DRAM) 120, and a host interface 130. The host interface connects to a host computer (not shown in FIG. 1) which interfaces to the flash controller 110. The flash controller 110 interfaces to the flash memory array 105 and the smaller amount of DRAM 120. The DRAM 120 may be integrated on the same chip as the flash memory controller 110 or exist as a separate memory device or devices.
The DRAM 120 may be used to buffer user data for both read and write commands from the host to the flash memory controller 110. It may also be used to store system data such as L2P (Logical to Physical) address tables, an operational log (where the sequence of events processed by the controller can be saved for later inspection), and statistics concerning the read and write activity and SMART (Self-Monitoring, Analysis and Reporting Technology) data logging. This system data is commonly referred to as 'metadata' collectively.
For read commands, a portion of the DRAM 120 may be assigned to act as a read cache, where frequently accessed user data may be stored in the cache after reading from the memory array and then subsequent reads for the same user data can be serviced more quickly from the cache. The data in the cache is only a secondary copy of the data held in non-volatile flash memory. Consequently, in the event of a power failure no action need be taken to save or protect the data in the read cache, as the primary copy is always safe in the non-volatile flash memory array.
For write commands, the DRAM 120 may be used as a buffer to act as a staging point for data being sent between the flash memory controller 110 and the flash memory array 105. Typically, writing directly to flash memory is much slower than writing to DRAM. Data written to NAND flash memory must be written in units on flash pages regardless of the host write size. Additionally, the data written to the flash memory must be written in complete flash blocks, also known as flash erase blocks, where a block includes many individual pages.
Ideally, all the flash pages in one flash block should be written at the same time, or at least within a short period and certainly with no long intervening period between the writing of one incomplete block and the completion of the writing of the remaining pages in that block. The reason is that the data in incomplete flash blocks may suffer corruption and errors due to migration of charge across the physical boundary between memory cells in pages that have been written (programmed) and adjacent memory cells in those pages that have yet to be written (i.e., un-programmed and still in the erased state).
Therefore, writing first to a DRAM 120 serving as a buffer confers several advantages, including being able to respond much more quickly to the host to confirm a status that the data has been written, while the actual writing of the flash memory may take place in the background. The writing of data to flash memory can also be made more efficient by consolidating smaller writes into single page writes or even complete erase block writes composed of many pages in order to avoid problems due to charge migration across the programmed/un-programmed page boundary.
The effect of a sudden power failure on flash memory has been documented in the literature. For example, the paper entitled "Understanding the Impact of Power Loss on Flash Memory", be Tseng, Grupp and Swanson, DAC '11 Proceedings of the 48th Design Automation Conference (2011), describes how writing activity to the flash memory that is stopped in mid-flow may leave the data partially-written in an indeterminate state. In particular, the paper describes how a power failure can "corrupt data already present in the flash device" and "negatively impact the integrity of future data written to the device."
One way to address some of the problems caused by a power failure is to include a temporary backup power supply to support a graceful shutdown. The power of an SSD may be provided in different ways, but typically comes from a host. When the host power shuts down, the SSD thus also powers down. It is common to provide a temporary backup power supply 140 for a SSD. A power fail detection circuit 150 may be included to detect a power supply failure. The temporary backup power supply 140 may, for example, be a small battery or a super-capacitor. The temporary backup supply may be a separate component or may be packaged with the SSD in a single unit.
However, even when a temporary back-up supply is available, the backup supply is typically designed to have only a limited capability sufficient to support a graceful shutdown. Thus, after a power failure is detected, steps still have to be taken to try to gracefully complete any essential pending operations and to save any essential user data and system metadata stored in volatile DRAM 120 to the non-volatile flash memory array 105. Two of these essential activities are covered in "The Art of SSD Power Fail Protection," white paper by WD, a Western Digital company (2013), which mentions the importance of saving to non-volatile storage of any 'in-flight' data associated with write-back caching and the logical to physical mapping table. The contents of "The Art of SSD Power Fail Protection" are hereby incorporated by reference.
In the event of a power failure, therefore, the first priority is to save any in-flight data that has been acknowledged to the host as having been written. Due to the use of the DRAM 120 as a buffer, there can be situations where a power failure occurs after data is acknowledged to the host, but before all of the associated data in the DRAM buffer 120 has been written to the flash memory array 105. Priority is thus given to save data that has been written to the SSD that has been acknowledged back to the host, but which has only been buffered in the volatile DRAM and which has not yet been written to the flash memory. Data which has not yet been acknowledged need not necessarily be saved, as the host will interpret the associated write command as having failed and will take appropriate action. The industry's "best practice" for MLC flash memory is that after a power failure, the write data in the write data buffer 122 is written in complete upper/lower (most significant and least significant bit) page pairs and in complete erase block units.
The system data 124, or metadata, which includes the logical to physical mapping table, also needs to be saved to have a graceful recovery. In accordance with industry best practice, the system data 124 is stored in MLC mode in complete upper/lower page pairs and in complete erase block units.
The backup power supply 140 comes at a price in terms of hardware size and cost. The backup power supply needs to be scaled to have the required "hold up time," which is the time the backup power supply will hold up the operating voltages of the SSD for it to function. Once the voltages fall below a critical value, the drive will shut down.
In order to ensure that both the write-cached data and the metadata is saved, the time for both operations to complete must be determined and this defines the minimum hold up time. The minimum hold up time, in turn, will determine the minimum amount of battery capacity or the super-capacitor size of the temporary backup power supply 140.
The extra cost of providing batteries or super-capacitors as a backup power supply 140 in a SSD is not inconsiderable. Additionally, there is a desire in many applications to reduce the size of the SSD, including associated components packaged with the SSD. Therefore, there is a need to minimize the time required to write the essential data to non-volatile memory after a power supply failure of a SSD. Additionally, there is a need minimize the amount of data that has to be written after a power supply failure.

Power fail saving modes in solid state drive with MLC memory


A battery integration module or pack includes a first positioning plate for positioning the multiple single batteries in formation for integration at one end of the battery formation, a second positioning plate for positioning the multiple single batteries in formation for integration at the opposite end of the battery formation, the first and second plates aligned together over the formation of batteries to form a battery holder frame, a first printed circuit board (PCB) mounted to the outside surface of the first positioning plate, and a second printed circuit board (PCB) mounted to the outside surface of the second positioning plate. The first and or second printed circuit boards include conductive contact surfaces accessible to the battery terminals of the multiple single batteries in formation wherein contact between the contact surfaces of the printed circuit boards and the battery terminals is mitigated by intermediate conductive components.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is in the field of electronics and pertains particularly to methods and apparatus for integrating multiple batteries to form a battery pack.
2. Discussion of the State of the Art
In the field of electronics, newer lithium-based batteries, both primary (non-rechargeable) and secondary (rechargeable) have been developed that have much higher energy density ratings than the standard Nickel Cadmium (NiCd) or Nickel Metal Hydride (NiMH). At the time of this writing, there are a few varieties of Lithium-based batteries. These are Lithium Ion (Li-Ion) batteries and Lithium Ion Polymer (LiPo) batteries. Li-Ion batteries are typically provided in the form of a cylindrical cell. LiPo batteries are typically provided in the form of a prismatic or rectangular cell. Both Li-Ion and LiPo have similar battery chemistry with 3.7V/cell being the nominal voltage. These batteries require certain handling criteria to help avoid safety concerns such as over current, over voltage, and under voltage conditions. Failure to heed handling and charging instructions may result in a fire.
A battery may comprise of one or more cells of a given battery chemistry. For example, a 3.7V Li-Ion battery consists of a single Li-Ion cell. A 7.4V Li-Ion battery consists of two Li-Ion cells, and so on. Li-Ion cells are usually fabricated within a cylindrical metal component. Standard sizes may vary but include the 18650 model size of 18 mm diameter×65 mm in length. These batteries include an integral blow-off valve to handle over pressure due to overcharging.
Cylindrical Li-Ion cells may be provided with or without connection tabs. Connection tabs are generally soldered or spot-laser-welded to each end of the battery. LiPo battery cells are fabricated in a variety of shapes and sizes. These batteries are often used in portable power applications where a custom battery shape is beneficial or necessary, such as with a smart phone, an iPad, an iPod, or the like. Prismatic cells are packaged in a sealed plastic-type 'bag' enclosure. Prismatic cells are always supplied with two connection tab terminals, a positive terminal and a negative terminal.
Lithium batteries must be handled with care at all times as described further above. The basic critical limits per battery cell are battery over-voltage and battery charge and discharge currents. Lithium-based battery cells lack any protection circuits. One terminal, typically the positive terminal, is taped over or otherwise insulated at the point of sale to prevent any sort of electrical contact with anything that might conduct a current. A short between the positive and negative terminals of a Li-Ion or LiPo cell may immediately result in a short circuit, large currents, and possibly fire.
Therefore, what is clearly needed is a battery integration module or pack that solves the above limitations while providing safe access to electrical power.

Battery pack for integrating multiple single batteries


This invention relates to a vacuum cleaner (10), and in particular a vacuum cleaner (10) having a rotatable brush (24). The vacuum cleaner (10) has a travelling head (12) adapted to be moved across a surface to be cleaned, the travelling head (12) having a leading end (28) and a trailing end. The travelling head (12) has a rotatable brush (24), the rotatable brush (34) being located in a brush chamber (23) at the leading end of the travelling head (12), the brush chamber (34) having an opening (26) through which a part of the rotatable brush (24) projects, the opening (26) and the rotatable brush (24) spanning substantially the full width of the travelling head (12). The travelling head (12) also has an impeller (46), and a motor (34) for driving the rotatable brush (34) and the impeller (46). The travelling head (12) has a removable dirt-collection chamber (42) spanning substantially the full width of the travelling head, and a filter means (52) located between the dirt-collection chamber (42) and the impeller (46), the filter means (52) also spanning substantially the full width of the travelling head.

Vacuum cleaners have a motor which typically drives an impeller to create a flow of air. The travelling head of the vacuum cleaner has an opening in its bottom wall through which air can enter the travelling head, the air carrying dirt and debris into the travelling head. It is arranged that the air transports the dirt and debris by way of ducts within the travelling head, the ducts typically having a cross-sectional area measuring around 7 to 10 cm2. The dirt and debris is transported through the ducts to a dirt-collection chamber. The air then passes through one or more filters before leaving the vacuum cleaner, the filters being arranged to trap the dirt and debris within the dirt-collection chamber for subsequent disposal.
The dirt-collection chamber can contain or comprise a disposable bag, the wall of the bag also acting as a filter. Alternatively, the dirt-collection chamber is a receptacle which can be removed from the vacuum cleaner, emptied, and re-installed into the vacuum cleaner for re-use.
Many vacuum cleaners have a rotatable brush located adjacent to the opening of the travelling head. The brush is rotated and engages the surface which is being cleaned. The brush helps to dislodge dirt and debris from the surface which is then gathered into the air flow and transported to the dirt-collection chamber.
A disadvantage of traditional vacuum cleaners is that some of the dirt and debris which has been dislodged by the rotating brush falls back or is brushed back onto the surface before it is gathered by the air flow.
A further disadvantage is that larger debris can be pushed along by the leading edge of the travelling head rather than being collected. This disadvantage is caused by the close proximity of the bottom of the leading edge to the surface being cleaned.
A further disadvantage is that larger debris that is collected can lodge in the ducts and block the vacuum cleaner.
Many vacuum cleaners are mains powered, and the manufacturers of mains powered vacuum cleaners will often seek to maximise the electrical and suction power of their vacuum cleaners in an attempt to increase their marketability. Typically, the opening of the travelling head is surrounded by a wall which permits a relatively small air flow into the travelling head. The air is forced to pass underneath the wall, through the underlying carpet or other floor covering, whereby to dislodge dirt and debris from between the fibres of the carpet. As impellers are typically 10 to 40% efficient in use and air is not particularly good at dislodging dust, dirt and debris, this is a relatively inefficient method of cleaning. In order to achieve higher impeller efficiencies, manufacturers have tended to develop faster spinning impellers creating higher suction. However, as it is air flow rather than suction which dislodges dirt and debris, such vacuum cleaners generally do not achieve improved dirt and debris collection efficiency. Manufacturers have therefore tended to quote electrical and suction power as a measurement of effectiveness of their appliances rather than cleaning efficiency.
It is also known to provide battery-powered vacuum cleaners. Battery-powered vacuum cleaners employing this traditional approach cannot provide the suction power of a mains powered vacuum cleaner without prejudicing the operating cycle of the vacuum cleaner, i.e. without unacceptably shortening the period between battery recharging, and therefore do not provide comparable cleaning performance.
It is an aim of the manufacturers of most domestic vacuum cleaners (mains powered and battery powered), that the travelling head has a height which allows the user to clean underneath chairs, cupboards and the like. The inventor considers a reasonable height limit to be 90 mm.
It will be understood that vacuum cleaners are not the only form of surface cleaning apparatus, and "carpet sweepers" are known which do not utilise suction. Carpet sweepers typically have a travelling head with an opening adjacent to the leading edge. A rotatable brush is mounted in the travelling head, the brush having bristles which project from the opening. The brush may be rotated by way of gearing connected to the wheels of the travelling head, so that movement of the travelling head across the surface being cleaned causes the brush to rotate. Alternatively, some carpet sweepers have a motor to rotate the brush. Carpet sweepers rely upon the mechanical dislodgement of dirt and debris from the surface being cleaned by the rotating brush. Only dirt and debris which is lifted from the surface and pushed into a dirt-collection chamber will be captured by the carpet sweeper, and some of the dirt and debris which is dislodged falls back onto the surface. Whilst the rotating brush generates air currents within the travelling head those air currents are incidental and do not significantly assist the cleaning operation, i.e. the air currents are turbulent and do not carry a significant amount of dirt and debris from the surface being cleaned and into the dirt-collection chamber.
Self-propelled or robotic vacuum cleaners are also known, and many have one or more rotating brushes to dislodge dirt and debris. The known robotic vacuum cleaners are substantially circular in plan view, which is necessary to reduce the likelihood that the vacuum cleaner will collide with, and perhaps become stuck by, articles of furniture and the like. However, the requirement to fit the componentry into the circular housing compromises the cleaning efficiency, with the shape of the air flow duct in particular having to be restricted to fit within the housing. On the other hand, most vacuum cleaners, and most carpet sweepers, are substantially rectangular in plan view, as this usually represents the most efficient shape in terms of packaging and performance.
Many prior art vacuum cleaners have a relatively long and tortuous path between the opening in the travelling head and the dirt-collection chamber. The intention is generally to maintain a high air speed through the travelling head so as to keep the dirt and debris entrained within the air flow. Also, a more tortuous path reduces the likelihood that dirt and debris will fall back out of the vacuum cleaner, particularly after the air flow has been stopped.


A valve device for a compressor is improved to suppress noise and a decrease in compressor efficiency caused by pressure pulsations, and also to prevent degradation in compressor performance by ensuring durability. In a valve device of a reed valve structure including: a valve hole 103a or 103b formed in a valve plate 103; a valve seat 103e formed in an outer peripheral portion of the valve hole so as to protrude in a boss shape to a groove 103f formed around an outside thereof; and a valve body 151 having a proximal end 151A connected to the valve plate and a distal end 151B allowed to freely come into and out of contact with a seat surface of the valve seat, a plurality of ribs 103g extend radially from a peripheral wall of the valve seat to an outer peripheral wall of the groove.

In this type of compressor, as disclosed in, for example, Patent Document 1, a suction hole for drawing a refrigerant from a suction chamber into a cylinder bore and a discharge hole for discharging a compressed refrigerant from the cylinder bore into a discharge chamber are formed in a valve plate placed between a cylinder head and the cylinder bore, and a suction valve and a discharge valve of a reed valve structure for opening and closing the suction hole and the discharge hole are attached to the valve plate.
A valve seat is formed in an outer peripheral portion of each of the suction hole and the discharge hole, so as to protrude in a boss shape to a groove formed around the outside thereof.


Method of, and apparatus for, providing automatic detection of potential information loss due to undersampling and automatic detection of potential storage waste due to oversampling based on automatic determination of an analog signal's Nyquist rate. The invention acquires an analog signal, determines a maximum frequency of the analog signal and a corresponding Nyquist rate, and allows a user to select a sampling rate based on either the automatically determined Nyquist sampling rate, a user specified sampling rate, a sampling rate determined by a user specified bandwidth, or a sampling rate determined by user specified available space. The invention also informs a user when a loss of information may occur due to a sampling rate being less than the Nyquist rate. The invention also informs a user when a waste of storage may occur due to a sampling rate being greater than the Nyquist rate.

Conventional data processing systems may provide digital signal processing capabilities for converting an analog signal into digital form. When sampling an analog signal, such as audio, to convert it into digital form for storage, the number of samples taken per second (sampling rate) determines the quality of the signal that is generated when the digital signal is converted back to an analog form. According to the Nyquist Theorem, a band-limited analog signal, x(t), can be reconstructed from its sample values, x(nT), if the sampling rate, 1/T, is greater than twice the highest frequency, f, present in x(t). The sampling rate, 2*f, is referred to as the Nyquist rate.
The sampling rate in a conventional data processing system is either determined by the designer or is left to the user to decide. If a sampling rate smaller than the Nyquist rate is chosen (undersampling), information will be lost from the original analog signal, decreasing the fidelity of the digital signal when it is played back. oversampling (selecting a sampling rate much higher than the Nyquist rate), on the other hand, will cause the sampling rate of the sampled signal to be larger than what is needed to reconstruct the signal from its samples, thus wasting valuable storage space. Conventional systems do not determine the Nyquist rate of the analog signal, and thus can not prevent the information loss caused by undersampling or the storage waste caused by oversampling. This problem is compounded in a multimedia data processing system which may be converting multiple analog signals, all with differing Nyquist rates.
The prior art approaches present the user with seven difficulties. The first difficulty is that the prior art approaches do not automatically determine the Nyquist rate of an analog signal. The second difficulty is that the prior art approaches do not automatically determine a sampling rate for an analog signal based on the analog signal's Nyquist rate. The third difficulty is that the prior art approaches do not inform a user that a loss of information due to undersampling may occur. The fourth difficulty is that the prior art approaches do not inform a user that a waste of storage due to oversampling may occur. The fifth difficulty is that the prior art approaches do not provide a user a choice of alternative actions when such a loss of information or a waste of storage may occur. The sixth difficulty is that the prior art approaches do not adjust a sampling rate to prevent either a loss of information or a waste of storage. The seventh difficulty is that the prior art approaches do not adjust a sampling rate to available storage.
Thus the prior art provides no method of, or apparatus for, automatic detection of potential information loss due to undersampling and automatic detection of potential storage waste due to oversampling based on automatic detection of an analog signal's Nyquist rate. As such, there is a need for a method of, and apparatus for, providing automatic detection of potential information loss due to undersampling and automatic detection of potential storage waste due to oversampling based on automatic determination of an analog signal's Nyquist rate.

Method of and apparatus for providing automatic determination of information sampling rate


The present disclosure sets forth both a method and apparatus for molding a unitary pig formed of two types of material, one being a light weight foam, and the other being a harder polymeric material thereby yielding a unitary harder material in the cast pig. The finished product involves N discs having parallel end faces and a central drilled core; the unitary cast harder material defines end located discs located adjacent to said foam core and a central core therein so that the end located discs adjacent to the foam donut are unitary with the core and bonded thereto.

In the casting of pigs, it is common to provide a pig sized for practically all sizes of pipes. The pipes are measured with their nominal diameter. It is common to pig fluid flow lines of sizes from about 4" and up so that the offering of a single pig design or shape requires a large number of molds in which to cast the pigs. In some instances, the pigs are made with a central body supporting mountable discs or cups. While this reduces the size of the mold, it still indicates that a specific mold size and shape is required to cast an individual cup or disc. Sometimes a large diameter mold can be made smaller by positioning a removable insert in it. In making a 16" disc, it is possible to reduce the diameter of the mod to 12", and perhaps even to 10" with an insert. However, this may require a more sophisticated insert in that reduction of the diameter changes the ratio of diameter to thickness. That ratio must be carefully observed to avoid departing from the design criteria which normally takes into account both diameter and thickness. As will be understood, the costs increase with an increase in diameter.
Common flow lines are found at 2" intervals. Therefore, beginning at 4", the nominal sizes of a set of pigs of a particular design should encompass the diameters of 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, etc. The measurements in inches again are the representative or nominal diameters. While the precise diameter or I.D. of the pipe may vary somewhat from the nominally stated dimension, the germane point of this discussion is that there is a required mold for each and every size. The molds become more expensive at greater sizes while the number of larger size pigs sold are reduced. Restated, there is simply a greater installed mileage base of pipelines measuring 12" and 16" compared to 32" or 36". To be sure, 36" pipelines exist but they require a mold which is much larger, they involve handling of much greater weights in molding and after molding and the unit sales do not correspond with the increased size of pipe diameter. Again, the most common pig sizes sold are typically 8, 12 and 16". The greater mileage of pipe of these dimensions requires a larger number of pigs of these sizes.
With the advent of a new type pig, capitalization cost must encompass the cost of making the molds. This can easily require a dozen molds to offer to the trade the different sizes of a newly devised pig. The present disclosure is directed to a method and apparatus for molding pigs which reduces the mold cost significantly. Indeed, through the present disclosure, pig cost can be significantly reduced and the capitalization cost can be reduced even more. This reduces storage space required for molds when not in use, and also reduces significantly the difficulties of handing such molds. As will be understood, a metal mold for making a 36" pig is quite heavy. In effect, it resembles a very large, heavy metal barrel and has to be handled with overhead hoists.
The present disclosure also sets forth an improved pig which is able to travel in both directions in a pipeline. For a pigging operation, removal and reversal of the pig can be done easily if there is a trap for the pig and if the pig is relatively small. When the pig is up to 12 or 16" in diameter, it can be handled easily. That is not so for a large pig. For instance, a pig measuring 24, 30 or 36" in diameter cannot be pulled easily from a pig trap reversed and reinserted for launching in a pipeline. It is necessary in many instances for a pig to travel in a bidirectional fashion. For instance, the pig may be launched from one location, sent to another location a few hundred feet or a few miles away, and then returned to the first location by reversing the flow. Pig travel in the pipe runs the risk of leakage around the pig. Leakage occurs as a result of flow by. There is another problem in handling the pig at the time of reversal. When the pig is exceedingly large and cannot be pulled from a pig trap and relaunched after reversal, it is important to have a pig that can run in both directions. Pigs made with cups simply cannot do this. Pigs made with discs can do this provided the cups do not deform. It is necessary to therefore flip the disc. By that, the bow in the disc must be reversed. So to speak, the frictional drag around the lip of the disc causes the surrounding edge to drag and fall behind the pig body. At the end of the line where a reversal in direction is required, the pig disc must snap, i.e., it must reverse or flip the peripheral edge to a trailing position. That is not easily accomplished in pigs. The present disclosure sets forth a pig which can accommodate these requirements. It is a pig which provides quality sealing in a pipeline. More than that, it is a bidirectional pig which is able to reverse movement without requiring intervention. The pig is simply reversed in its direction of movement and the discs in the pig are reversed. Such reversal is accomplished by the present pig taking into account the alternating hard and soft portions thereof. This pig construction enables reversal easily so that subsequent pig travel in the pipeline is readily done without difficulty.
In one aspect of the present invention, the pig is a two part polymeric foam system. The bulk or body of the pig is made of a soft foam. Several disks are integrally constructed along with a central core and they are made of a harder polymeric material. By forming the pig in alternate layers, improved sealing characteristics are obtained and the pig is able to flip, i.e., to move the peripheral edge to a trailing position with respect to the central core of the pig when reversed movement occurs.
In one aspect of the present disclosure, the pig is constructed so that there is better bonding of the components of the pig. One component is made of a light foam and is positioned adjacent to and serves as a mold piece for a heavier disc material. As the mold for the heavier material, better bonding is obtained between the two types of materials. This assures that the pig is able to hold together in a better fashion. This prevents breaking apart at the interface between different types of materials.
The present disclosure is therefore summarized as an improved method of manufacture of a molded pig formed of two parts or types of material. They are assembled by cutting donuts from a solid foam cylinder made of a very light weight foam. By use of surrounding straps, several donuts are joined in a single pour which defines the axial core and discs at spaced locations including the two ends of the pig. The several discs are defined at the same diameter to enable quality sealing in a pipe.

Method for casting a bidirectional foam pig


A mount is fixed to the floor of a vehicle, and supports a computer/display unit by means of an indexing cylinder assembly. The computer/display unit can be rotated horizontally in steps about the indexing cylinder assembly so that it can be easily positioned for use by the driver or the passenger in the vehicle. The computer/display unit can be adjusted vertically to suit the needs of the user while not interfering with the user's ability to see the road. The indexing cylinder may be mounted on either side of an upright member so as to provide selection of left or right positioning of the computer equipment. A bearing rod runs up the side of a computer equipment holding frame, and can be used to adjust the pressure point on the dashboard, thereby providing stabilization of the computer equipment.

The use of a computer system, including a keyboard and a computer/display unit, in a vehicle is becoming more prevalent. For example, such computer systems are employed in police vehicles or emergency vehicles. An example of such a vehicle mounted computer system is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,386,413 of Twyford, which is assigned to the assignee of the present invention.
Vehicle mounted systems suffer from various drawbacks, among which are the following. The display is not high enough to prevent diverting the driver's eyes from the road when viewing the screen. The keyboard is not easily positioned for use by either the driver or the passenger. The mounting position of the system interferes with air bag deployment. The mounting arrangement does not permit comfortable seating for the passenger, and requires alteration to the dashboard. The system blocks access to the radio, heater controls, etc. The mounting arrangement is such that the display is not properly inclined facing the driver, and does not provide sufficient stabilizing pressure against the dashboard. The display holder is not rotatably adjustable or, if it is rotatably adjustable, there is no means for preventing it from being rotated in front of the passenger side air bag. The mounting arrangement is not flexible or adjustable, and does not work equally well, for both left side driver vehicles (as in the United States) and right side driver vehicles (as in the United Kingdom and other countries). The mounting arrangement is not versatile in that it does not allow up and down positioning, as well as an adjustable tilt to match the instrument panel angle. Finally, the mounting arrangement does not provide an indexing cylinder which may be mounted on either side of an upright member so as to provide selection of left-right positioning, and does not provide a rod running up the side of the arrangement, on which rod the pressure point on the dashboard can be adjusted.

Best mode for carrying out the invention


In an example in accordance with the present disclosure, a display system is described. The display system includes a head-mounted display device to display visual content on a display panel. An input port receives external visual content to be displayed on the head-mounted display device from a connected computing device. The display system includes an input device on the head-mounted display device to receive input regarding a condition at the head-mounted display device. The display system includes a memory device on the head-mounted display device to store a database which holds a number of status messages related to a detected condition at the head-mounted display device. The display system also includes an image processing integrated circuit on the head-mounted display device to present the status messages on the head-mounted display device.

Extended reality systems allow a user to become immersed in an extended reality environment wherein the user can interact with the extended environment. For example, a head-mounted display using stereoscopic display devices, allows a user to see, and become immersed in, any desired virtual scene. Such extended reality applications can provide visual stimuli, auditory stimuli, and/or can track user movement to create a rich immersive experience.
Throughout the drawings, identical reference numbers designate similar, but not necessarily identical, elements. The figures are not necessarily to scale, and the size of some parts may be exaggerated to more clearly illustrate the example shown. Moreover, the drawings provide examples and/or implementations consistent with the description; however, the description is not limited to the examples and/or implementations provided in the drawings.

Head-mounted display generated status message

HEWLETT-PACKARD DEVELOPMENT COMPANY, L.P.