A network monitoring system includes a network, a monitoring device connected to the network, and a plurality of monitored devices connected to the network, each of the monitored devices having various statuses thereof summarized as a summary status, and sending the summary status to the monitoring device when sending a response in reply to a summary-status collecting command issued from the monitoring device as well as when sending other information that is not the response, wherein the monitoring device controls the summary status of a given one of the monitored devices based on the summary status received from the given one of the monitored devices.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a network monitoring system in which a monitoring device monitors and controls statuses of a plurality of monitored devices, and relates to the monitoring device and the plurality of monitored devices used in such a system.
2. Description of the Related Art
FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram showing a network configuration in which a monitoring device monitors statuses of a plurality of monitored devices.
In the figure, a plurality of transmission devices #1 through #4 subjected to status monitoring are connected to a monitoring device via transmission lines. The monitoring device collects status information from each of the transmission devices.
FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a related-art configuration of the monitoring device used in the network. FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a related-art configuration of the transmission device.
In FIG. 2, the monitoring device includes a communication unit 1, a transmission/receipt-control unit 2, a status-control unit 3a, a polling unit 4a, a status-control memory 5a, a polling table 7a, and a GUI unit 8a. The communication unit 1 is used for communicating with transmission devices. The transmission/receipt-control unit 2 is used for checking responses received from the transmission devices when the transmission devices send these responses in response to commands directed to the transmission devices, and, also, attends to processing of a series of transmitted frames.
The status-control memory 5a stores summary statuses of all the transmission devices provided in the network as well as summary statuses of groups of transmission devices organized by a predetermined group unit. Further, the status-control memory 5a is used for storing an update condition of the summary statuses.
FIG. 4 is an illustrative drawing showing a data structure used by the status-control memory 5a.
As shown in the figure, the summary status is stored with respect to each of the transmission devices #1, #2, and so on as well as with respect to each group #1, #2, and so on. Here, a given group is comprised of a plurality of transmission devices assembled as one unit according to areas where they are installed, functions they perform, etc. Identifications (IDs) of transmission devices which belong to a given group are also stored along with the summary status.
The summary status is comprised of 8 bits in this example. Starting from the most significant bit toward the least significant bit, each bit of the summary status represents such items as presence/absence of a device alarm, a presence/absence of a transmission-line alarm, presence/absence of a path alarm, presence/absence of switching, and presence/absence of testing, and the three remaining bits are reserved. The device alarm indicates whether there is abnormality regarding the pertinent transmission device. The transmission-line alarm and the path alarm indicate whether there is abnormality regarding transmission-lines and paths, respectively, used by the pertinent transmission device. The switching indicates whether there is a switch over to a backup system when the transmission device has a dual structure comprised of a system in operation and a backup system. The testing indicates whether the pertinent transmission device is under testing. The three reserved bits may be used for checking other alarm statuses in addition to the alarms described above. Here, a summary status means that this status is obtained as a sign for representing presence/absence of an alarm regarding a pertinent transmission device by taking a logic sum or the like of a plurality of alarms even when a plurality of different sections (e.g., packages) of the transmission device have their own alarms.
The polling table 7a is a memory used for controlling a polling order and transmission-device IDs of the transmission devices subjected to polling.
FIG. 5 is an illustrative drawing showing an exemplary configuration of the polling table 7a. The polling table 7a includes, as its items, a polling interval at which polling is conducted, a number of transmission devices subjected to polling, and IDs of the transmission devices which are stored in an order of polling. The polling unit 4a sends a polling command to each transmission device at such a polling interval as specified in the table in the polling order specified in the table.
The status-control unit 3a stores in the status-control memory 5a the summary statuses obtained from information sent from the transmission devices. The polling unit 4a controls the polling operation according to the contents of the polling table 7a so as to conduct successive polling with respect to the transmission devices provided in the network. The GUI unit 8a provides a graphical user interface such as a display screen for the purpose of providing an operator with a means of controlling and monitoring.
In FIG. 3, the transmission device includes a communication unit 11, a control unit 12a, a status-control unit 13a, an inter-package-communication unit 14, a status-control memory 15, and package-control units 16. The communication unit 11 is used for communicating with the monitoring device. The package-control units 16 are provided with respect to respective packages constituting the transmission device, and attend to control of these packages. The inter-package-communication unit 14 communicates with the package-control units 16, and collects a status of each package. The control unit 12a analyzes a control command sent from the monitoring device, and requests the package-control units 16 to conduct processing corresponding to the control command. Further, the control unit 12a transmits a response to the monitoring device via the communication unit 11. The status-control memory 15 stores the device""s own statuses (e.g., a detailed status of each package and the like) as well as the summary status summarizing the device""s own statuses for the control purposes. The status-control unit 13a stores and controls in the status-control memory 15 the status information obtained from the inter-package-communication unit 14. Further, the status-control unit 13a obtains the summary status, and stores it in the status-control memory 15.
In the following, an outline will be provided regarding the operations of the related-art monitoring network.
The related-art monitoring device keeps record of status changes in such items as alarms, switching, testing, and the like with respect to each transmission device as well as with respect to each section thereof which may experience such a change when such items are reported from the transmission devices. The monitoring device further keeps record of summary statuses by summarizing statuses of the individual transmission devices in the monitoring device, and displays the summary statuses. In this configuration, the monitoring device has a summary-status collecting command (i.e., a command for requesting a transmission device to send its summary status) as one of its commands, and uses this command as a polling command to perform polling with respect to each transmission device, thereby obtaining a summary status at constant intervals sent back as a response to the polling. This is done in order to avoid inconsistency between the statuses stored in the monitoring device and the actual statuses of the transmission device. To achieve this end, the monitoring device compares the summary statuses obtained as polling responses with the summary statuses stored inside the monitoring device, and recollects detailed statuses (i.e., alarms, switching, testing, etc.) from a transmission device if inconsistency is found by the comparison regarding this transmission device. The monitoring device further summarizes the recollected detailed statuses so as to insure consistency with the transmission device.
In what follows, an operation procedure will be described in detail with regard to each unit of the monitoring device.
FIGS. 6A and 6B are a flowchart showing a detailed operation of the status-control unit 3a of the monitoring device.
Data received from a transmission device is supplied to the status-control unit 3a via the communication unit 1 and the transmission/receipt-control unit 2. The status-control unit 3a is waiting for an arrival of the received data (step S71). Upon receiving the received data, the status-control unit 3a analyzes the contents thereof (step S72).
When the received data is alarm information such as a device alarm, a transmission-line alarm, a path alarm, or the like, a check is made as to whether the alarm information relates to a generation of an alarm or a recovery from an alarm condition (step S73). If it relates to generation of an alarm, data indicative of presence of an alarm is stored in a corresponding alarm field of a corresponding transmission-device filed in the status-control memory (step S74). If the received data relates to a recovery from an alarm condition, data indicative of presence of an alarm is removed from a corresponding alarm field of a corresponding transmission-device filed of the status-control memory (step S75). Then, statuses regarding generation of alarms are summarized within a group unit including the corresponding transmission device (step S76). Statuses of the whole network is then summarized (step S77). Based on this result, a request is made to the GUI unit 8a so as to change displayed statuses according to the updated summary statuses.
When the received data is status information that relates to a change in other statuses such as switching, testing, etc., a procedure comprised of steps similar to the above-described steps S73 through S78 is performed with respect to an item in a corresponding status field of a corresponding transmission device in the status-control memory 5a (steps S79 through S84).
When the received data is a summary status of a transmission device which the transmission device sends in response to a polling command or the like, a comparison is made between the received summary status and a corresponding summary status stored in the status-control memory 5a of the monitoring device (step S85). If a match is found, no further action is taken. If a mismatch is found, a status-information collecting command for requesting detailed status information is issued to the transmission device (step S86). The status-information collecting command includes an alarm-status collecting command, a switching-status collecting command, a testing-status collecting command, etc.
When the received data is a response sent from a transmission device responding to an alarm-status collecting command, for example, all the alarms regarding the transmission device are erased in the status-control memory 5a (step S87). The received data is then stored as an ongoing alarm for control purposes (step S88). Based on the contents of the stored data, a request is made to the GUI unit 8a to change displayed statuses (step S89).
FIG. 7 is a flowchart of a procedure performed by the polling unit 4a of the monitoring device.
A polling counter, which is used for indicating an ID number of a transmission device to be polled, is initialized to xe2x80x9c1xe2x80x9d (step S91). The polling counter is then referred to, and a polling command is issued to a transmission device indicated by the polling counter (step S92). A period of wait is instituted to wait for a response from the transmission device (step S93). Upon receiving a response, a summary status included in the response is supplied to the status-control unit 3a (step S94). A wait period is started to wait for an end of a polling interval defined in the polling table (step S95). After the passage of the polling interval, the polling counter is incremented by one (step S96), and the same procedure as described above will be performed with respect to a next transmission device according to the polling order.
FIG. 8 is a flowchart of a summary-status-list displaying process performed by the monitoring device.
The summary-status-list displaying process displays a list of summary statuses with respect to respective transmission devices. A device counter for indicating an ID number of a transmission device is cleared (step S101). A check is made whether a count of the device counter has reached to the total number of transmission devices (step S102). If the count is smaller, a summary-status displaying process is performed (step S103). In this manner, the summary-status displaying process is performed with respect to all the transmission devices.
FIG. 9 is a flowchart of the summary-status displaying process of the monitoring device with regard to a selected group of transmission devices.
A counter for indicating one of the items of a summary status is cleared first (step S101). Items of a summary status in this example include a device alarm, a transmission-line alarm, a path alarm, switching, testing, and three reserved bits as previously described in connection with FIG. 4. The total number of items in the summary status is thus 8. A check is made as to whether a count of the counter has become 8 (step S112). If it has not, the contents of the summary status of the selected group is read from the status-control memory 5a with respect to an item corresponding to the current count of the counter (step S113). Further, a check is made as to whether the obtained contents indicate a presence of the item (step S114). If presence of the item is indicated, the summary status is displayed so as to show an abnormal status (step S115). If absence of the item is indicated, the summary status is displayed so as to indicate a normal condition (step S116)
In what follows, an operation of the status-control unit 13a of the transmission device will be described in detail.
FIG. 10 is a flowchart of a procedure performed by the status-control unit 13a of the transmission device.
The status-control unit 13a receives status data of each package from the inter-package-communication unit 14 and command data from the monitoring device, as previously described. Initially, the status-control unit 13a waits for data to be received (step S121). Upon receiving the data, analysis of the contents is conducted (step S122).
When the received data is alarm data sent from the package-control units 16, a check is made as to whether the alarm data relates to generation of an alarm or a recovery from an alarm condition (step S123). If it relates to generation of an alarm, data indicative of presence of an alarm is stored in a corresponding package field of the status-control memory (step S124). If the received data relates to a recovery from an alarm condition, data indicative of presence of an alarm is removed from a corresponding package field of the status-control memory 15 (step S125). Then, statuses regarding generation of alarms are summarized for the transmission device (step S126). The summarized alarm information is sent to the monitoring device (step S127).
When the received data is a summary-status collecting command (i.e., polling command) sent from the monitoring device, the summary status of the transmission device is read from the status-control memory 15 (step S128), and is sent to the monitoring device as a response to the command (step S129).
FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing an operation of the control unit 12a.
As shown in the figure, the control unit 12a waits for arrival of data, and, upon receiving data, performs what needs to be performed in accordance with the received data. Then, a response is generated, and is sent to the monitoring device.
In what follows, a more detailed description will be given with regard to operations of the related-art system.
FIG. 12 is a sequence chart for explaining operations of the related-art system.
In this example, three transmission devices are provided as devices subjected to monitoring. At an initial state, all the three transmission devices are operating normally. In the figure, 8 digits in parenthesis following a polling command represent the 8 bits of a summary status. Each bit has an assigned function as previously explained in connection with FIG. 4. In this example, further, a polling interval is set to 10 seconds.
EVENT 1: The monitoring device performs a polling operation with respect to the transmission device #3 by issuing a polling command. Since the transmission device #3 is operating normally, a summary status included in a polling response is all zeros. This is shown in the figure as a polling response (00000000).
EVENT 2, 3: The transmission device #1 suffers a transmission-line alarm, so that the transmission device #1 sends a report to the monitoring device for the purpose of reporting detailed alarm information regarding the generation of the transmission-line alarm. One second after the generation of the transmission-line alarm, the transmission device #3 starts a test, so that the transmission device #3 sends to the monitoring device a report including detailed testing-status information regarding a start of the test.
In response, the monitoring device analyzes the received reports, and summarizes the reported details to generate a summary status. As a result, the transmission device #1 has a summary status (01000000), and the transmission device #3 has a summary status (00001000). These summary statuses are stored in the status-control memory 15.
EVENT 4: A transmission-line alarm is generated in the transmission device #2, and the transmission device #2 sends a report to the monitoring device for the purpose of reporting the transmission-line alarm. For some unexpected reason, however, the report does not reach the monitoring device. Because of this accident, an updated summary status (01000000) in the possession of the transmission device #2 is not known to the monitoring device, which does not even know any status change of the transmission device #2. The monitoring device keeps the same summary status as before for the transmission device #2. That is, the summary status in the monitoring device is (00000000), and there is a mismatch between these two summary statuses.
EVENT 5: A scheduled polling according to the polling intervals is conducted with respect to the transmission device #1. The transmission device #1 had a transmission-line alarm generated at EVENT 2, so that the summary status thereof is (01000000). A response to the polling is thus sent to the monitoring device with the summary status (01000000).
EVENT 6: The transmission device #3 suffers generation of a device alarm and switching, and makes an attempt to report these to the monitoring device. For some unexpected reason, however, the report does not reach the monitoring device. The summary status in the possession of the transmission device #3 is (10011000) because of the accumulation of the events that took place since the initial state. However, the summary status in the monitoring device remains (00001000), creating a mismatch.
EVENT 7, 8: A polling scheduled according to the polling intervals is conducted against the transmission device #2. The transmission device #2 had the transmission-line alarm generated at EVENT 4, and, thus, has a summary status that is (01000000). A polling response is sent to the monitoring device along with this summary status (01000000). At this point of time, the summary status of the monitoring device is still (00000000), creating a mismatch. The monitoring device issues an alarm collecting command to the transmission device #2 in order to collect detailed information on alarms from the transmission device #2. The detailed information is sent from the transmission device #2 to the monitoring device by way of a response to the alarm collecting command.
EVENT 9: A polling is conducted with respect to the transmission device #3 according to the schedule defined by the polling intervals. The transmission device #3 has the summary status (10011000) after EVENT 6, and sends this summary status to the monitoring device by way of a polling response. Since the generation of the device alarm and switching are not reported to the monitoring device, the monitoring device keeps a summary status of (01000000) with respect to the transmission device #3. A mismatch is thus present between the record of the monitoring device and the summary status included in the polling response. In this case, the monitoring device issues an alarm collecting command to the transmission device #3 so as to collect detailed information on alarms from the transmission device #3. Further, the monitoring device issues a switching-status collecting command to the transmission device #3, and obtains detailed information about the switching status from the transmission device #3 by receiving a response to the switching-status collecting command.
FIG. 13 is an illustrative drawing showing a status of the status-control memory of the monitoring device after the sequence as described above is performed. As shown in the figure, the summary status of the transmission device #1 is (01000000), and the summary status of the transmission device #2 is (01000000). Also, the transmission device #3 has a summary status (10011000).
FIG. 14A is an illustrative drawing showing an example of a display showing the summary statuses of the entire network. As shown in the figure, the device alarm and the transmission-line alarm are highlighted in red, which indicates presence of alarms. The path alarm is shown in green, indicating no alarm. A red color is also used for the switching so as to indicate presence of switching. The testing is shown in violet, which indicates that a test is underway.
FIG. 14B is an illustrative drawing of an example of a display which shows a list of summary statuses. This display shows a summary status of each transmission device as well as each group by using text information. In this example, the transmission devices #1 and #2 are shown as having an abnormal status with respect to the transmission line. The transmission device #3 has an abnormal device status, and is shown with an indication that the switching and the testing are present.
In the related-art monitoring scheme, the monitoring device and the monitored devices keep duplicate records regarding statuses of the monitored devices. If a report from a monitored device does not reach the monitoring device for some reason, an inconsistency is created between the monitoring device and the monitored device. When such an inconsistency is found, the monitoring device attempts to collect all the detailed information from the monitored device.
This scheme involves complicated processing on the part of the monitoring device, and, also, adds to busy traffic on monitoring lines by collecting the detailed information. A failure of reporting tends to occur when a multiple of alarms are generated. When a command for collecting detailed information is issued from the monitoring device in such a case, a monitoring line which is already congested may be further congested.
Moreover, detection of inconsistency is always associated with a polling operation. This means that an inconsistency is detected only when a polling operation is performed. This is the case even when the monitoring device and a monitored device having inconsistency therebetween have other communications in addition to a polling operation.
Further, the way the monitoring device summarizes statuses is basically fixed. If there is a need to change the way the statuses are summarized upon a user request or the like, a pertinent program needs to be rewritten. If statuses to be monitored are different for different types of monitored devices, the monitoring device has a burden to identify such a difference. This makes it difficult to add a new status to be monitored.
Accordingly, there is a need for a network monitoring system which can resolve inconsistency of summary statuses between the monitoring device and monitored devices without a need for the monitoring device to actively collect status information in response to a result of an polling operation.
Accordingly, it is a general object of the present invention to provide a network monitoring system which can satisfy the need described above.
It is another and more specific object of the present invention to provide a network monitoring system which can resolve inconsistency of summary statuses between the monitoring device and monitored devices without a need for the monitoring device to actively collect status information in response to a result of an polling operation.
In order to achieve the above object according to the present invention, a network monitoring system includes a network, a monitoring device connected to the network, and a plurality of monitored devices connected to the network, each of the monitored devices having various statuses thereof summarized as a summary status, and sending the summary status to the monitoring device when sending a response in reply to a summary-status collecting command issued from the monitoring device as well as when sending other information that is not the response, wherein the monitoring device controls the summary status of a given one of the monitored devices based on the summary status received from the given one of the monitored devices.
In the network monitoring system described above, all information sent from a monitored device to the monitoring device is provided with the summary status of the monitored device. This configuration makes it possible for the monitoring device to learn the latest summary status without conducting a summary-status collecting operation, thereby reducing the processing load and traffic. Further, since detection and correction of inconsistency between the monitoring device and the monitored devices can be attained without waiting for a polling operation, it is possible to obtain the latest statuses of the monitored devices at an earlier timing than in the related-art configuration.
According to another aspect of the present invention, the network monitoring system as described above is such that each of said monitored devices sends the summary status to said monitoring device by inserting the summary status into a predetermined area provided in a header portion of a communication frame directed to said monitoring device.
According to another aspect of the present invention, the network monitoring system as described above is such that each of said monitored devices sends to said monitoring device valid/invalid information indicating which item of the summary status is valid, and the monitored device controls one or more items of the summary status with respect to a given one of the monitored devices only if the one or more items are valid with respect to the given one of the monitored devices.
In the network monitoring system as described above, since valid/invalid information (e.g., a mask pattern) is provided for the purpose of indicating a valid/invalid status of each item of the summary status, a common header can be used by different types of devices (i.e., devices having different summary-status items to be collected). Further, even when a device of a new type is added to the network, there is no need to make a change to units concerning the monitoring operation and the graphical user interface. This results in an improved efficiency in system development.
According to another aspect of the present invention, the network monitoring system as described above is such that said monitoring device includes a status-display table which defines how to summarize summary statuses with respect to a given group of the monitored devices, and obtains the summary status of the given group of the monitored devices in accordance with what is defined in said status-display table.
In the network monitoring device described above, a change to the way of summarizing summary statuses is easily made simply by changing the status-display table in the monitoring device. This makes it easier to achieve user-specific customization, resulting in an increased user satisfaction and an improved efficiency in the system development.
According to another aspect of the present invention, the network monitoring system as described above is such that said monitoring device includes a status-display table which defines how to display each item of the summary status, and displays each item of the summary status in accordance with what is defined in said status-display table.
In the network monitoring system as described above, the form of display of the summary status (i.e., in terms of colors, letters, bit-map information, etc) can be changed simply by rewriting the status-display table. This results in an increased user satisfaction and an improved efficiency in the system development.
According to another aspect of the present invention, the network monitoring system as described above is such that said monitoring device keeps record of a time of a latest updating of the summary status with respect to each of said monitored devices, and displays the time along with the summary status.
In the network monitoring system as described above, the monitoring device keeps record of the time of updating of the summary status, so that reliability of the summary status regarding a particular monitored device can be judged based on the time of updating, thereby enhancing the reliability of the monitoring device.
According to another aspect of the present invention, the network monitoring system as described above is such that said monitoring device issues the summary-status collecting command in a polling operation performed at constant intervals, and skips a given polling operation scheduled for a given one of the monitored devices when the summary status is updated during a latest one of the constant intervals based on said other information sent from the given one of the monitored devices.
In the network monitoring system as described above, a scheduled polling operation is skipped with respect to a given monitored device if this device has the summary status thereof updated in the monitoring device since the last polling operation. This reduces the processing load on the monitoring device and the monitored devices, and reduces traffic.
Other objects and further features of the present invention will be apparent from the following detailed description when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

Network monitoring system, monitoring device, and monitored device


A printer for printing user information is provided with one or more sensors for detecting machine-readable information pre-printed or pre-formed on the substrate printed upon. The information uniquely identifies each substrate from other substrates and this information is associated with information relating to the user information. Use of pre-printed or pre-formed substrates allows use of any printing technology.

Systems have been proposed to enable printed substrates to be used interactively, in a manner similar to how computer displays are used interactively. By "interactively", we mean that the printed substrate includes visible human-readable information which, when "activated" by the user using an appropriate device, causes an action to occur in the system. Systems have been proposed in which pages are printed with machine-readable tags that are not discernable to the unaided eye of a human. These tags are typically printed over the entire surface of each page in a regular pattern. Each tag incorporates information, hereinafter referred to as a page ID, that differentiates each page from other pages and information, and information, hereinafter referred to as a location ID, that differentiates a subarea of the page associated with the tag from other subareas within each page. The association between the machine- and human-readable information is recorded in the system, and the system is thereby able to interpret actions performed relative to the substrate by the user using an appropriate tag-sensing device as actions relative to the human-readable information.
In our earlier application U.S. Ser. No. 09/575,187, we have proposed a printer which prints both the machine- and human-readable information simultaneously and a system that has the ability to print customized versions of documents, for example newspapers, for different customers. When the same printer prints the machine- and human-readable information, it is relatively simple to associate unique page and location IDs with the human-readable data. However, where pages are used with pre-printed or pre-formed tags it is necessary to associate each page with the data printed on a page-by-page basis. Even with mass production there is no certainty that a particular paper sheet will have particular information printed on it or that particular information will be printed on a sheet having a particular page ID or sheets having a particular range of page IDs.


A display device includes: a first detection section configured to detect the light intensity around a display area; a second detection section configured to detect the dark current when light is shielded; and a comparator configured to compare the difference output between the first and second detection section against a given reference value. The display device controls the light intensity supplied to the display area according to the comparison result of the comparator.

The present application relates to a display device for displaying a given picture, a display control method for controlling the same and electronic equipment using the same.
A known thin-film transistor (TFT) panel used in a liquid crystal display device for controlling the brightness of the backlight includes photosensors formed in the panel. Such a display device controls the backlight brightness according to the light intensity detected by the photosensors.
On the other hand, new configurations have been devised to eliminate the dark current from photosensor elements in the display device having photosensors formed therein. In one example of such configurations, two photosensors, i.e., one a brightness control sensor and another a light-shielding sensor, are connected in series so that the difference in light intensity between the two sensors is output. In another possible configuration, a plurality of light-shielding photosensors are connected in parallel to allow for selection of some sensors therefrom so that the variation in characteristics between the photosensor elements can be cancelled. This allows for the element size of the photosensors to be changed (refer to FIG. 16). Also refer to Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 2006-106294.

Display device, display control method and electronic equipment


An image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present disclosure includes a receiving unit, a controlling unit, an information accumulating unit, a sleep mode response data generating unit, and a transmitting unit. The receiving unit receives information requesting data. The controlling unit, in a normal mode, generates first response data after receiving the information requesting data. The information accumulating unit accumulates information associated with the first response data. The sleep mode response data generating unit, in a sleep mode, generates second response data on the basis of the information accumulated by the information accumulating unit. The transmitting unit transmits one of the first and the second response data.

Energy conservation measures are taken for a typical image forming apparatus, such as a printer, or a multi-function peripheral (MFP). For example, if the image forming apparatus is unused for a specified time, it may shift to an energy conservation state (referred to below as the sleep mode). If the image forming apparatus shifts to the sleep mode, however, it may take time until the image forming apparatus shifts back to a state in which the user can use it (the state will be referred to below as the normal mode).

Image forming apparatus that transmits response data for information requesting data and responding method


A stacked chip package includes a substrate having an upper surface and a lower surface, a first semiconductor chip having an upper surface and a lower surface, wherein the lower surface of the first semiconductor chip is attached to the upper surface of the substrate and the upper surface of the first semiconductor chip includes a plurality of first electrode pads, and a second semiconductor chip having an upper surface and a lower surface. The lower surface of the second semiconductor chip is attached to the upper surface of the first semiconductor chip, and the lower surface of the second semiconductor chip includes trenches that correspond to the locations of the first electrode pads on the upper surface of the first semiconductor chip.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to stacked chip packaging technology. More particularly, the present invention relates to a stacked chip package that includes an upper chip having trenches and a method of manufacturing the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
As more circuitry is integrated into high performance semiconductor chips, the size of such chips increases and the need for a greater density of chips is needed. Stacked chip packages and stacked packages have been developed to meet this need. Stacked chip packages include multiple chips stacked on one another and embodied in a single package. In contrast, stacked packages includes multiple packages, where each package includes a single chip, stacked on one another. Stacked chip packages and stacked packages have the advantage that chips having several functions can be embodied in a single package.
In a stacked package, the thickness of an individual package is at least two times that of the chip embodied within the package. Thus as individual packages are stacked to form a stacked package, the thickness of the resulting stacked package is very thick which is undesirable. Also, to electrically connect the individual packages, the leads which extend from each package must be deformed. This requires additional steps to be performed when fabricating a stacked package which can decrease yield. Such steps can include fitting the external lead of the individual package disposed in the upper portion into the external lead of the individual package disposed in the lower portion, and punching in the external lead of the individual stacked package perpendicularly, and inserting a connecting terminal in the hole or other suitable deformation. Since an external connection terminal must be used in a stacked package, a decrease of the yield of the such packages is inevitable.
When compared to stacked packages, stacked chip package are more advantageous since they can be mounted more easily and effectively. Additionally, stacked chip packages can be designed using different types of internal structures.
For example, one conventional stacked chip package includes a lower chip which is attached to a lower surface of a lead frame die pad via an adhesive, and an upper chip which is attached to the upper surface of the die pad via an adhesive. The lower chip is attached to the die pad such that the active surface of the lower chip faces downward, and the upper chip is attached to the die pad such that the active surface of the upper chip faces upward. The upper and lower semiconductor chips respectively are electrically connected to a lead frame via bonding wires. The upper and lower chips and the bonding wires are encapsulated and protected by a package body formed by a mold resin. In this type of conventional stacked chip package, the lower chip and the upper chip can have the same size and be identical to one another. For example, the upper and lower chips can both be edge pad chips, on which electrode pads connected to the bonding wires are formed in the edge portion of the active surface of the chip.
Another conventional stacked chip package is configured to stack a plurality of chips on a die pad in the same direction. In such a case, a lower chip must be larger than an upper chip. The lower chip is attached to the die pad via an adhesive and the upper chip is attached to the active surface of the lower chip via an adhesive. The upper and lower chips are electrically connected to leads via bonding wires, and are protected by a package molding body. In the stacked package having the above-described structure, the structures of the upper and lower chips must be different from each other (i.e., the lower chip must be larger than the upper chip).

Stacked chip package having upper chip provided with trenches and method of manufacturing the same


A device adapted to be worn by a human to provide transcutaneous neural stimulation or EMG monitoring useful for treating pelvic floor dysfunctions which includes a base portion comprising a flexible, nonabsorbent material layer configured to overlie the pelvic floor region of a human. The base is provided with an opening or slot disposed to overlie the anus or the vagina of the wearer to aid in proper positioning of the device. A pair of electrodes are mounted to the base in spaced relationship to one another and in surrounding and closely adjacent relationship to said slot. The electrodes preferably have a configuration adapted to overlie a sufficient portion of the pelvic floor region surrounding the anus of the wearer to effect a highly efficient stimulation of the pelvic floor muscles. Preferably, the base portion is securely held in position by a plurality of strap portions connected to the base which extend upwardly from the rear and front of the wearer for releasable connection to a holding member secured to or near the waist of the wearer.

Pelvic floor dysfunctions, such as urinary incontinence, for example, is a common problem in a large percentage of adults. Studies have shown that this problem can be effectively treated in a large percentage of the cases, however, various forms of urinary incontinence or other pelvic floor muscular dysfunctions require different forms of treatment or combinations thereof to increase the rate of success.
It has long been known that muscles can be electrically stimulated by the application of electrical impulses to the surface of the skin, referred to as transcutaneous electrical stimulation. For useful results, the proper positioning of the electrodes in relation to the nerve and associated muscle to be stimulated is very important.
Studies have been conducted using patch type surface electrodes which are adhesively attached to the body in the area of the pelvic floor for electrical stimulation of the pelvic floor muscles involved in treating urinary incontinence. The results of this study indicate such treatments can be useful to increase the success rate of combating urinary incontinence. In addition EMG measurements are desirable to monitor the course of progress during treatment.
However, the drawbacks to the prior method and means of treatment include significant irritation of the patient's skin, the need of relatively highly trained personnel to properly position the electrodes and/or properly instruct patients to position the electrodes and the fact that the configuration and nature of the patch type electrodes used, which are commercially widely available for general use, are not wholly satisfactory to provide efficient and effective treatment of the area involved.
Skin irritation of the patient from the adhesively applied electrode patches interferes with the treatment regimen required to effectively and comfortably treat a patient. In order to effectively treat a patient for these types of disorders, it is necessary to repeat the treatment several times over a significant number of days. In at least some instances, it is desirable to employ a continuous treatment over an interval of several hours in a day, which must also be repeated on subsequent days. The fact that many medical personnel have little or no training regarding the accurate positioning of the electrodes for treating pelvic floor dysfunctions, or for EMG monitoring, has limited the effective use of the prior method and means to a limited number of medical facilities which have a properly trained staff.
The above noted drawbacks have so limited the use of electrical stimulation techniques for treating these disorders that it is essentially not available to most of the patient population who may benefit from this form of treatment. Additionally, these drawbacks represent disincentives to the patient such that it is very difficult to obtain the patient cooperation necessary to conduct the full course of treatment required to be successful in resolving the problem.
There are presently available garments which carry a plurality of electrodes for electrical stimulation of different areas of the body, however, these garments are limited to generally large and more readily accessible areas of the body and are not suitable for use in treating pelvic floor dysfunctions, such as urinary incontinence. Such prior art is represented by U.S. Pat. No. 4,919,148 and the patents cited therein, for example.

Apparatus for treating pelvic floor dysfunctions using transcutaneous electrical stimulation of the muscles


A method of embedding a security mark or code on a film during the printing process is provided. The security mark or code includes unique print identification information that can be tracked to determine sources of piracy. The security code is incorporated to the film print in the form of a shift in the light exposure (e.g., color density) of pre-selected frames within pre-selected zone of pre-selected scenes. By shifting the color density and thereby marking a particular zone within a scene, these markings can be used to place a unique print ID onto the film print. This embedded security code (e.g., print ID) will be virtually undetectable to the viewer and film pirates; yet will enable the identification of the film source in the event of piracy.

The process of printing a motion picture film entails projecting light of varying intensity onto unexposed film stock. In the course of printing a motion picture film, a security code or other type of identifier is often printed onto the film in an effort to uniquely identify each print that is made. The identification of the print enables the motion picture studio that produced the film to track the location of the various film prints, which aids in fighting piracy. In the event piracy occurs, the security code on the pirated film will assist in the identification of the source of the pirated film. In this respect, the code can, among other things, uniquely identify a theater that received the film print for public viewing. Thus, these identifying security codes can provide a studio with information relating to the theater from which the piracy occurred. From such information, the studio can track the piracy patterns and develop and implement theft controls.
One known technique for adding such security codes is the Cap Code technique, which applies a unique pattern of codes to each print. The pattern of codes is repeated every twenty feet (20′) or so throughout each reel of the film. However, this approach appears to have lost its viability due to the increase in compression employed during film making and recording. In addition, this security technique can incur certain disadvantages. For example, the cap code technique has a limit of approximately 2000 unique dot combinations. Further, the image rarely survives capture and compression. Further, and all of the dots added as codes are required in order to decode the print number. In other words, it is not possible to decode a partial pattern.
Recent trends in technology have enabled film pirates to discover the use of such security codes on the film prints. Thus, such pirates constantly attempt to thwart such security codes and subsequent identification of the film source by eliminating them from the reproduced copies.
Thus, a need exists to provide security codes on a film during printing that are undetectable to pirates, and that do not impair the image quality and hence, the viewing experience of viewers. Furthermore, a need exists to provide security codes on film prints that not only uniquely identify each print, but also survive capture and compression to 150 k. Additionally, a need exists to minimize the security code required on the print, as well as to make such codes invisible to the viewing audience and to facilitate decoding, thereby allowing the use of such codes as evidence of piracy.

Method for embedding security codes into film during printing


Fishing hook tying apparatus includes a housing with a shaft mounted therein for rotation about the longitudinal axis. An end of the shaft protrudes from one end of the housing to form a chuck including resilient jaws and a longitudinally movable collar. The chuck is formed to grasp the shank of a fishing hook in a closed-jaws position and to release the fishing hook in an open-jaws position. A lanyard with a free end and an end attached to the shaft has a wound-position and an unwound-position. A spring is attached to the shaft and to the housing so as to produce a winding bias on the shaft when the lanyard is moved from the wound-position to the unwound-position. The winding bias tends to rotate the shaft from the unwound position of the lanyard to the wound position of the lanyard.

A fisherman is no better than his knots. It is no good to own the best tackle and have an abundance of fishing knowledge and skill if, when fish are hooked, knots give way. The angler must therefore pay close attention to his knots. Under most conditions, an angler needs to know how to tie only a few knots, one being the clinch knot. The clinch knot is favored among fly fisherman for tying flies to leader tippets. To tie the clinch knot, the end of the leader is passed through the hook-eye of a fishing hook and the end brought back and wrapped, normally four to ten times, around the standing part of the leader to form an eye in the leader at the hook-eye. After passing the leader end through the eye, the standing part of the leader and the leader end are pulled to form a knot drawn tightly against the hook-eye.
An issued United States patent, U.S. Pat. No. 6,209,930, issued Apr. 3, 2001, incorporated herein by reference, describes tying a clinch knot wherein an end of a line is passed through a hook-eye of a fishing hook with the end held adjacent a standing part of the line. The patent describes improved apparatus for wrapping the end of the line around the standing part comprising a drive element with greater control and flexibility, mounted to rotate in response to exertion of a force and a clamp carried by the drive element for holding the hook.
Accordingly, it is a purpose of the present invention to provide improved apparatus for wrapping the end of the line around the standing part that includes greater adjustment and flexibility.


An annulus filler system bridges the gap between two adjacent blades attached to a rim of the rotor disc of a gas turbine engine. The system includes an annulus filler having a lid which extends between the adjacent blades and defines an airflow surface for air being drawn through the engine. The filler also has a support body extending beneath the lid and terminating in an elongate foot which, in use, extends along a groove provided in the rim of the disc. The groove has a neck which prevents withdrawal of the foot through the neck in a radially outward direction of the disc. The system further includes a sleeve which, after installation of the filler, is slidably locatable into a gap between the foot and sides of the groove.

With reference to FIG. 1, a ducted fan gas turbine engine generally indicated at 10 has a principal and rotational axis X-X. The engine comprises, in axial flow series, an air intake 11, a propulsive fan 12, an intermediate pressure compressor 13, a high-pressure compressor 14, combustion equipment 15, a high-pressure turbine 16, and intermediate pressure turbine 17, a low-pressure turbine 18 and a core engine exhaust nozzle 19. A nacelle 21 generally surrounds the engine 10 and defines the intake 11, a bypass duct 22 and a bypass exhaust nozzle 23.
The gas turbine engine 10 works in a conventional manner so that air entering the intake 11 is accelerated by the fan 12 to produce two air flows: a first air flow A into the intermediate pressure compressor 13 and a second air flow B which passes through the bypass duct 22 to provide propulsive thrust. The intermediate pressure compressor 13 compresses the air flow A directed into it before delivering that air to the high pressure compressor 14 where further compression takes place.
The compressed air exhausted from the high-pressure compressor 14 is directed into the combustion equipment 15 where it is mixed with fuel and the mixture combusted. The resultant hot combustion products then expand through, and thereby drive the high, intermediate and low-pressure turbines 16, 17, 18 before being exhausted through the nozzle 19 to provide additional propulsive thrust. The high, intermediate and low-pressure turbines respectively drive the high and intermediate pressure compressors 14, 13 and the fan 12 by suitable interconnecting shafts.
Conventionally, a compressor rotor stage comprises a plurality of radially extending blades mounted on a disc. The blades are mounted on the disc by inserting a root portion of the blade in a complementary retention groove in the outer face of the disc periphery. To ensure a radially smooth inner surface for air to flow over as it passes through the stage, annulus fillers can be used to bridge the spaces between adjacent blades. Typically, a seal between the annulus fillers and the adjacent fan blades is also provided by resilient strips bonded to the annulus fillers adjacent the fan blades.
Annulus fillers of this type are commonly used in the fan stage. The fillers may be manufactured from relatively lightweight materials and, in the event of damage, may be replaced independently of the blades
It is known to provide annulus fillers with features for removably attaching them to the rotor disc. An annulus filler may be provided with a hook member at its axially rear end, the hook member sliding into engagement with part of the rotor disc and/or a component located axially behind the rotor assembly, for example a rear fan air seal. Typically, such an annulus filler is slid axially backwards over the rotor disc following an arc which matches the chord-wise curvatures of the aerofoil surfaces of the adjacent blades until the hook member engages, and is then retained in place by a front attachment disc which is fastened over the fronts of all the annulus fillers located around the rotor disc.
US 2010/0040472 proposes another form of annulus filler having an outer part which defines an airflow surface for air being drawn through the engine and a separate support part which is connectable to the outer part and to the rotor disc to support the outer part on the rotor disc. The support part spaces the outer part from the rotor disc and has an inter-engaging portion that in use connects to the rotor disc and has a further inter-engaging portion that in use connects to the outer part. The support part can be fitted first to the disc and the outer part fitted to the support part thereafter.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,655,687 proposes an annulus filler that can be fitted to the rotor disc in a radial direction of the disc. The annulus filler that has a salient foot that is shaped similarly to re-entrant grooves formed in the disc rim between pairs of adjacent blades. The foot is proportioned so as to pass radially of the disc through the neck of a respective groove. Wedges positioned between opposing walls of the grooves and respective feet then prevent withdrawal of the feet in a direction radially outwardly of the disc.


The invention provides an image duplicating apparatus capable of performing duplicating operations with its whole operation time shortened by the simple speed adjustments, without increasing the size of the memory as much as possible and its costs. When images are duplicated, for example, at full scale, a CPU starts executing the input/output processing of the image line data. The image line data is written into a line buffer memory and at least one line of the image line data written in the line buffer memory is retained. Upon the receipt of the data output request from the printing unit, the CPU reads out the image line data retained in the line buffer memory and outputs it to the printing unit. The CPU repeatedly performs the above-described steps. The duplicating operations may be performed with the space for storing at least two lines of the image line data secured in the line buffer memory.

1. Field of Invention
The invention relates to an image duplicating apparatus having such as a laser printer mechanism and to a storage medium that stores programs for controlling the image duplicating apparatus.
2. Description of Related Art
Currently, some facsimile machines have duplicating functions to duplicate original images onto a recording paper, similar to office-use copying machines, in addition to the ordinary facsimile functions to send and receive the facsimile images. In such facsimile machines having the duplicating functions, the laser printer mechanism is being adopted instead of the thermal printer mechanism to meet the demands for printing speed.
The facsimile machines that perform duplicating using the laser printer type, include a line image sensor that reads images on a document line-by-line in the main -scanning direction while the document is being conveyed, and a laser printer mechanism that consecutively transfers toner images in the sub scanning direction, onto a recording paper to be discharged thereafter. In the above-described structure, the printing speed by the laser printer mechanism tends to be faster than the reading speed of the line image sensor. Therefore, a page memory capable of storing image data for one page is mounted on the facsimile machine so that the input/output processing of the image data can be performed between the line image sensor and the laser printer mechanism.
In some of other facsimile machines having the printer mechanism other than laser printer, the reading operation and printing operation are controlled so that they are synchronized according to the image data stored in a memory. For example, when any image data is not stored in the memory, the printing operation is temporarily stopped until the image data is stored in the memory to a certain extent (amount). After the image data is stored in the memory to a certain extent, the printing operation is started again, as linked with the reading operation.
However, the conventional facsimile machines having duplicating functions using the laser printer type need to have a page memory capable of storing the image data for one page due to the difference between the reading and printing speeds. If the size of the memory is increased, its cost is increased accordingly.
The conventional facsimile machines that have a printer mechanism other than a laser printer that control the reading and printing operations so that they are synchronized, the input/output processing of the image data may be performed via a memory with the smaller size than the page memory. Therefore, the problems with respect to the increase in the costs of the memory will be settled. However, complicated adjustments are required for controlling the reading and printing operations. In addition, the downtime in which the printing operation is not performed or is interrupted, is generated during the time in which the images are read from an original and are formed onto the recording paper. Therefore, the time required for the whole duplicating processing will not be shortened due to the downtime or the interruption of the printing operation, even though the printing operation does not take as much time when the image data is stored in the memory and the printing operation is not interrupted.
One aspect of the invention is to provide an image duplicating apparatus capable of performing the duplicating operation with its whole operation time shortened by the simple speed adjustments, without increasing the size of the memory as much as possible and its costs. Another aspect of the invention is to provide a storage medium that stores programs for controlling the image duplicating apparatus.
According to one aspect of the invention, there is provided an image duplicating apparatus having an image reading device that reads images from an original line-by-line in the main scanning direction and a printing device that consecutively forms the images line-by-line onto a recording paper in the sub scanning direction. The image duplicating apparatus performs input/output processing between the image reading device and the printing device via a memory to duplicate the images read from the original onto a recording paper. The image duplicating apparatus includes a line data writing controlling device that writes the image line data obtained from the image reading device after having the input processing, line-by-line, into the memory and that retains at least one line of the image line data in the memory, a written line information obtaining device that obtains the written line information as to the condition of at least two lines of the image line data written into the memory by the line data writing controlling device, and a line data reading controlling device that reads out the one complete line of the image line data from the memory upon the receipt of the data output request from the printing device, referring to the written line information obtained by the written line information obtaining device and outputs the image line data to the printing device.
In the image duplicating apparatus, the image line data is written into the memory line-by-line, and at least one line of the image line data is retained in the memory. The one complete line of the image line data is read out from the memory and is used for printing processing. Therefore, the image duplicating apparatus does not have to have a page memory capable of storing the image data for one page, but the input/output processing may be performed though a memory into which at least two lines of the image line data can be written or from which it can be read out. Consequently, the size of the memory mounted on the image duplicating apparatus is not increased as much as possible, and also its costs are not increased. Even when the time required to print one line of the image line data is shorter than that required to read one line of the image data, that is, when the cycle of reading the image line data from the line buffer memory is faster than that of writing the image line data thereinto, the one complete line of the image line data will always be retained in the memory except at the start of the duplicating operations. Therefore, the printing operations may be performed without any stops or interruption during the duplicating operations, and the time required for the duplicating operations can be shortened without the printing and reading time for one line of the image line data being adjusted.
Also in the invention, the speed of reading the images line-by-line in the main scanning direction by the image reading device (conveying the original document) and the speed of consecutively forming images line-by-line in the sub scanning direction by the printing device (conveying a recording medium), are adjusted so that they become equal.
Since the reading and printing speeds are adjusted so that they become equal, the images obtained by reading from the original line-by-line in the main scanning direction, are formed onto a recording paper in the sub scanning direction approximately at fall scale.
Further in the invention, the speed of reading the images line-by-line in the main scanning direction by the image reading device and the speed of consecutively forming images line-by-line in the sub scanning direction by the printing device, are adjustable so that they are relatively varied.
Since the reading and printing speeds are adjustable so that they are relatively varied, the images obtained by reading from the original line-by-line in the main scanning direction, are formed onto the recording paper while being enlarged or reduced in the sub scanning direction.
In the image duplicating apparatus of the invention, when the result that any complete line of the image line data does not exist in the memory, is obtained by referring to the written line information obtained by the written line information obtaining device, upon the receipt of the data output request from the printing device, the line data reading controlling device outputs pseudo-data for the image line data.
Even when any complete line of the image line data does not exist in the memory, the printing processing may be performed based on the pseudo-data instead of the image line data. At the start of the duplicating processing, one complete line of the image line data has not been yet written into the memory. However, the printing processing is performed based on the pseudo-data until one line of the image line data is completely written into the memory. Therefore, the duplicating processing is performed effectively without the printing processing being stopped or interrupted.
According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided a storage medium that stores programs for controlling an image duplicating apparatus having an image reading device that reads images from an original line-by-line in the main scanning direction and a printing device that consecutively forms the images line-by-line onto a recording paper in the sub scanning direction, and performing input/output processing between the image reading device and the printing device via a memory to duplicate the images read from the original onto a recording paper. The storage medium may include a line data writing controlling program for writing the image line data obtained from the image reading device after having the input processing, line-by-line into the memory and for retaining at least one line of the image line data in the memory, a written line information obtaining program for obtaining the written line information as to the condition of at least two lines of the image line data written into the memory based on the line data writing controlling program, and a line data reading controlling program for reading out the one complete line of the image line data from the memory upon the receipt of the data output request from the printing device, referring to the written line information obtained based on the written line information obtaining program and for outputting the image line data to the printing device.
By activating the CPU based on the stored program, the image duplicating apparatus of the invention can be realized.

Image duplicating apparatus and storage medium


A report rendering system and method of filtering and navigating reports on mobile devices are provided. The report rendering system comprises a scene generator for generating a scene of a report in response to a request to view the report or a subset of the report and a navigation module for storing selected components within the scene. The method comprises the steps of generating a scene of a report in response to a request to view the report or a subset of the report and storing selected components within the scene.

Mobile devices, including but not limited to cell phones, smart phones, and PDAs, are often constrained in screen space, input methods, and memory. For example, screen space is often much smaller on a mobile display than on a personal computer (PC) display, such that traditional reports do not fit on a mobile display. Many mobile devices, especially cell phones, do not have touch screens or full navigation controls, such as a mouse. Instead, such mobile devices typically have track wheels or directional pads which are limited to two or four directions of movement. Memory capabilities are generally limited on mobile devices. As a result, displaying and interacting with large, complex reports can be challenging.
In order to display reports on mobile devices, most mobile reporting applications require that the original report be simplified. This means that a complex report that may, for example, contain many components or large tables and crosstabs need to first be re-authored into one or more "mobile-friendly" versions of the original report. These re-authored reports would have simplified layouts or reduced table or crosstab columns, so that they display and load properly on the constrained device. However, this produces a new set of reports that would required additional maintenance (by authors) and learning (by consumers).
Other solutions rely on a translation process, translating the normal output generated by a web-based reporting solution into simplified HTML that can be displayed on the mobile browser. Since mobile browsers are less capable than PC based browsers, attempting to display the raw HTML from reporting solutions will either fail outright or produce a visual result that bears little resemblance to the original report. Translation software removes certain features (such as CSS, complex table structures, and JavaScript) and simplifies the HTML (such as by paginating the page into smaller mobile pages) to end up with smaller, simpler HTML that can be handled by the mobile device.
Even if an entire report was capable of being rendered on a mobile device, the display screen is so small that users have difficulty seeing and navigating the information due to reports larger than the screen can display, or resolution issues due to shrinking the reports to fit on the screen.
Some solutions use elements of both simplification and translation. For example, the Sybase Unwired Accelerator platform allows users to re-author reports in an authoring environment, and then generates simplified HTML that is then displayed within mobile browsers.

International Business Machines Corporation


Aspects of the disclosure process an amplifier circuit. The amplifier circuit includes an input stage, an intermediate stage, an output stage and a detecting and controlling circuit. The input stage is configured to receive an electrical signal for amplification. The intermediate stage is configured to amplify with an adjustable gain. The output stage is configured to drive an audio output device in response to the amplified electrical signal. The detecting and controlling circuit is configured to detect a current for driving the audio output device, and adjust the gain of the intermediate stage based on the current to compensate for a pole change of the amplifier circuit due to a change of the current.

The background description provided herein is for the purpose of generally presenting the context of the disclosure. Work of the presently named inventors, to the extent the work is described in this background section, as well as aspects of the description that may not otherwise qualify as prior art at the time of filing, are neither expressly nor impliedly admitted as prior art against the present disclosure.
Many electronic devices include audio amplifiers to drive audio output devices, such as speakers, headphones, earphones, and the like. For example, mobile entertainment electronics, such as mobile phones, portable music players, handheld game consoles, and the like include headphone amplifiers to drive headphones, earphones, and the like. Generally, the mobile entertainment electronics are powered by batteries. Thus, the headphone amplifiers are preferred to have a low power consumption in addition to other operational and performance requirements.


A method for producing a metal layer on a wafer is described. In one embodiment the method comprises providing a semiconductor wafer including a coating, printing a metal particle paste on the semiconductor wafer thereby forming a metal layer and heating the metal layer in a reductive gas for sintering the metal particle paste or for annealing a sintered metal particle paste in an oven.

In the fabrication of semiconductor chips, processing typically includes the deposition of a particle layer on existing layers. This may include deposition of metallization layers for interconnection or bonding, wherein copper is increasingly used as a replacement for aluminum due to its low electrical resistance and high thermal conductivity. Such metallization layers may be produced using a particle deposition process. However, due to the significantly different coefficients of thermal expansion (CTE) of copper and silicon, high mechanical stress may occur when temperature changes. Delamination of the copper layer and crack formation may be the consequences. Deposition of porous copper layers may alleviate the above-mentioned problem of thermal mechanical stress. However, the plasma or electro-chemical processes currently used for deposition of porous copper layers are comparably complex and expensive.
There is therefore a need for an improved method for processing semiconductor wafers or dies, particularly for producing porous copper layers, which form electrical interconnects on the semiconductor wafer or die.

Method for producing a copper layer on a semiconductor body using a printing process


Flexible packages for use in an aseptic filling and sealing apparatus and systems incorporating the packages and apparatus. The packages are formed of a flexible material and include an openable line so that the package can be opened, filled and sealed with a product under aseptic conditions.

1. Field of Invention
This invention relates generally to aseptic packages for food products and systems and methods for aseptically packaging food products.
2. Description of Related Art
The aseptic packaging of processed products, such as foods, using flexible packaging materials, e.g., polymeric films, is commonly accomplished by various techniques. One such technique is sometimes referred to as a "bag-in-box." In that technique aseptically processed products are filled by a machine into irradiated bags through a multi-component spout that is integral with the bag. Usually the spout is on the bag only to facilitate filling and thus brings no value to the finished package. The other common technique is accomplished on a "form, fill and seal" apparatus, wherein roll stock is used to produce the pouches.
While the prior art techniques and packages used thereby are generally suitable for their intended purposes they nevertheless leave much to be desired from one or more of the following standpoints, speed of operation, ability to handle a range of package sizes and shapes, complexity of the packages (e.g., necessity for an otherwise non-functional spout as a part of the package to effect its filling), susceptibility to leakage of the resulting packages.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,210,993, whose disclosure is also incorporated by reference herein, there is disclosed a fill and seal machine for sealing plural pouches of a saddle-bag type configuration. Pouches of that type are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,237,799, whose disclosure is also incorporated by reference herein. A machine utilizing the teachings of those patents is commercially available from the assignee of this invention under the trade designation GL90. That machine is particularly suitable for the food-service industry since it can be used to fill flexible packages with a variety of products that are thermally processed after filling to render them shelf-stable. For example, the GL90 machine is versatile enough to be used in what are referred to as "hot-fill and hold" processes to create shelf-stable products. Products that fall into this category are high acidic, e.g., pH of 4.3 or lower, products and low water activity formulations. As presently configured the GL90 machine is not suitable to package low or high acid aseptically processed products at ambient temperatures direct from the process.
Numerous patents disclose aseptically sealed flexible packages and systems and methods for aseptically sealing products in flexible packages. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,194,622 (Lewis) discloses a sterilizable package wherein a slit extends along the front thereof from one side to the other, close to the bottom of the package. An adhesive layer is deposited over the entire length of the slit. A protective strip is disposed over the adhesive layer in order to protect it, thereby also sealing the slit. An object is inserted into the package by removing the strip and inserting the object through the slit. The package is sealed by folding it along a fold line located slightly above the adhesive to bring the adhesive into contact with the front of the package. The package is then sterilized.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,938,658 (Rohde) discloses a sterile pouch in which a film is drawn off a first roll and a narrow porous strip is drawn off a second roll. Spaced apart slits are provided in the film and the porous strip is superimposed upon and sealed to the film in a position covering the slits. The film is folded to form a pouch. The contents of the pouch are inserted from the bottom and the pouch is sealed. The pouch and contents are sterilized by a steriliant entering the pouch by way of the porous strip and the slit.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,551,781 (Wilkes) discloses a large sterilizable container having an access slit extending along a front surface thereof substantially from one side to the other at a location close to the top of the package. A porous membrane covers the access slit and a peelable interlayer is disposed between the front surface and the membrane without covering the slit. The contents' are inserted through the side of the container rather than through the access slit.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,868,244 (Ivanov) teaches a vented package wherein a slit-like vent opening 80 is provided with a gas permeable membrane to permit sterilizing gas to flow therethrough to sterilize the interior of the package and for evacuation of the gas after sterilization is complete. A seal is provided to close the vent opening after the sterilization process.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,035,981 (Braun) teaches an aseptic packing method which is of interest because it includes the use of dry radiation for sterilization of packing material. In the method taught by Braun, the packing material is shaped to form a tube that is sterilized by infrared and ultraviolet radiation and filled with a pre-sterilized food substance. The container is then stamped and sealed.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,022,324 (Schuster) teaches a sealed container wherein a breathable cover is bonded to a tray sheet. The cover comprises two panels forming an overlapping region that is covered with a breathable membrane disposed thereupon. The overlap between the two panels and the membrane form a passageway for sterilizing vapor that is impermeable to bacteria.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,783,581 (Pierce) discloses an aseptic packaging machine for packing food having an enclosed sterile chamber containing a plurality of operating stations. In the upper left of FIG. 1A, containers 48 are deposited from container storage hopper 50 and sterilized as they move vertically through the sterilization chamber 46. Thus, the containers are sterilized prior to filling, but they are not sealed at the time of sterilization. The containers are conveyed to a filling station where a sterile product is placed therein and a continuous strip of interconnected covers is placed into position in registry with the containers. The covers are heat sealed to the containers.
Other U.S. patents relating to this topic are: U.S. Pat. No. 3,481,100 (Bergstrom), U.S. Pat. No. 3,532,571 (Ausnit), U.S. Pat. No. 3,761,013 (Schuster), U.S. Pat. No. 3,884,012 (Ernstsson et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 3,947,249 (Egger), U.S. Pat. No. 4,008,851 (Hirsch), U.S. Pat. No. 4,057,144 (Schuster), U.S. Pat. No. 4,194,622 (Lewis), U.S. Pat. No. 4,223,512 (Buchner), U.S. Pat. No. 4,494,357 (DiGeronimo), U.S. Pat. No. 4,524,563 (Sassi), U.S. Pat. No. 4,686,814 (Yanase), U.S. Pat. No. 4,765,118 (Akutsu et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 4,782,646 (Nantin), U.S. Pat. No. 4,979,933 (Runge), U.S. Pat. No. 5,120,993 (van Boxtel), U.S. Pat. No. 5,228,271 (Wallace), U.S. Pat. No. 5,237,799 (van Boxtel), U.S. Pat. No. 5,310,262 (Robison et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 5,378,226 (Hanifl et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 5,606,847 (Joensson et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 5,776,045 (Bodolay et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 6,070,397 (Bachhuber), U.S. Pat. No. 6,079,184 (Cassou et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 6,085,491 (Bois), U.S. Pat. No. 6,098,800 (Bennish, Jr. et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 6,162,158 (Mercer et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 6,413,350 (Boschi), U.S. Pat. No. 6,419,825 (Hahmann et al.) and U.S. Pat. No. 6,510,669 (Bellei et al.). See also published U.S. Patent Application 2003/0014945 (Danby).

Aseptic packaging for foods and systems and methods for aseptically packaging foods


An integrated high frequency inductor is disclosed that includes first and second conductor loops. The first conductor loop is fabricated in a conductive layer of a semiconductor substrate and having a first substantially constant width. The second conductor loop is fabricated in the conductive layer and within the boundary of the first conductor loop and having a second substantially constant width less than the first substantially constant width, and the outer perimeter of the second conductor loop separated from the inner perimeter of the first conductor loop by a substantially constant gap. A first conductor bridge connects a first end of the first conductor loop to a first end of the second conductor loop. A second conductor bridge is provided for connecting a fourth end of the first conductor loop to a second end of the second conductor loop, the first and second conductor bridges operable to form a single conductive loop between the first and second ends of the first conductor loop, the single conductive loop comprised of the first conductor loop, the second conductor loop, the first conductor bridge and the second conductor bridge.

In high frequency RF circuits, there are required a plurality of components, some components being active components and some being passive components. The passive components are comprised of reactive and passive components. The reactive components typically are comprised of capacitors and inductors whereas the passive components are typically resistors. However, when operating at high frequencies, the concept of "impedance" is utilized, which impedance typically is comprised of distributed inductance, distributed capacitance and distributed resistance. A simple conductor or line at DC will only have a resistive component. However, at high frequencies, there will be a series inductance associated with that line as well as a distributed capacitance between the line and any other conductor, the dielectric constant of the capacitor being the medium on which the line is formed.
One of the primary components in an RF circuit is an inductor, and one of the more difficult to fabricate. An ideal inductor at low frequencies is comprised of a coil that is either wound around a magnetic core or it is merely fabricated with a plurality of "turns" with the core being air. There will always be an inherent series resistance due to the wire utilized and, when wound about a core, there will be some magnetic loss in the core. Typically, if the inductor is freestanding, there will be very little capacitance coupling between the coil wire and adjacent bodies or conductors. Thus, the primary components of the inductor will be the series resistance and the number of turns of that inductor and the overall length of the wire used in the inductor. The resistance of the inductor has a direct correlation to the loss associated with that inductor. Of course, thicker wire can be utilized to reduce series resistance. However, this series resistance and/or the winding of the coil on the magnetic core, results in a decrease in "quality factor" or, as it is more commonly referred, the "Q," especially at high frequencies. This Q-factor is a measure of the quality of the coil. If one wants to have a very sharp resonant circuit, it is desirable to have a very high Q-factor. This Q-factor directly relates to the loss of the coil. Thus, in high frequency circuits, it is desirable to have a very low loss coil, i.e., there should be minimal series resistance and there should be minimal capacitance between the turns of the coil and any adjacent conductors. Further, the medium that is disposed between turns of the coil should be, in the ideal, air.
In the first high frequency circuits, it was possible to fabricate the inductors as discrete components that could be soldered onto a circuit board. It was then possible to fabricate these coils around a very low loss core and utilize fairly low loss wire, resulting in a very high-Q coil with sufficient inductance. However, this was an expensive solution and it was desirable to fabricate the coils, if possible, on the substrate such that a resultant monolithic solution was achieved. Some of the first monolithic coils were those formed on thin film substrates such as quartz substrates. These coils typically took the form of a helical line pattern disposed on the quartz substrate beginning from a center point and spiraling outward therefrom to comprise the two terminals of coil. This resulted in fairly high Q-factor coils due to the fact that the dielectric constant of the quartz was fairly low. However, the size of the inductor was still restricted due to the amount of surface area required for the coil. If the line width was reduced, the series resistance went up and the Q-factor of the coil went down. Thus, these type of coils were limited to matching elements and, possibly, utilized for RF "chokes" which were required between a transistor terminal and a bias input. These chokes presented a high impedance to the circuit over a fairly narrow band frequencies, typically the operating band. Integrated circuits have seen a dramatic increase in speed thereof, resulting in the ability to fabricate integrated circuits operating upwards of 2-3 GHz. The need for monolithic matching elements, such as inductors and capacitors of high quality, has thus also increased. However, the problem with any type of inductor or capacitor is that it requires a certain amount of space, i.e., silicon surface area. Typically, there is the defined amount of surface area required for the inductor itself which is typically formed on one or two layers of the substrate structure with a "guard band" disposed thereabout to prevent unwanted coupling to other circuits. Typically, some type of ground plane or the such is required to be disposed between one RF component and another. The problem with these types of monolithic structures on a semi-conductor substrate is that they are typically fabricated on silicon dioxide. Thus, it is necessary to insure that the capacitance between any conductor in one of these reactive elements is minimized with respect to other conductors and that the series resistance is minimized. This series resistance is a function of the type of material from which the inductor is fabricated. Typically, these inductors will be fabricated in one or more of the metal layers, which metal is typically comprised of copper. Thus, any changes that can be made to an inductor to decrease the amount of space required for that inductor will be a desirable aspect of a monolithic RF inductor, as it will save valuable silicon real estate.

Monolithic inductor for an RF integrated circuit


A method and system for decoding and modifying processor instructions in runtime according to certain rules in order to separately control processing elements embedded within a multi-processor array using a single instruction. The present invention allows multiple processing elements and/or execution units in a multi-processor array to perform different operations, based upon a variable or variables such as their location in the multi-processor array, while accepting a single instruction as an input.

The present invention allows instruction code reduction since one instruction can result in many different operations. Also, as a lot of mathematic algorithms (especially vector and/or matrix arithmetic) rely on topology (location) of each element in the vector/matrix, the invention allows very efficient execution of numerical algorithms. Several other advantages of the present invention over existing arts include,
power saving: in cases where not all the PEs are required, a NOP modifier can be used to shut them down, saving power consumption;
non-SIMD based algorithms: in cases where the underlying algorithm is not a pure SIMD algorithm (for example, a filter operation or a transform operation), a SIMD implementation will not be efficient. Using the PE-grouping method provides much more flexibility, which results in a more efficient implementation;
multiple data set operations: in cases where the underlying algorithm operates on a data set smaller than the size of the PE-array, some of the PEs will not be utilize and the efficiency of the implementation will be low (consider a 2×2 matrix multiply on a 4×4 PE array). Using the PE-grouping method allows the implementation on multiple data set in parallel (four 2×2 matrix multiply executing at the same time);
unaligned loading: allowing a construction of non-align data elements (from memory) to be loaded to the same register (for example, register "r0") of the PE-array, the PE-grouping method can be used to load multiple consecutive data elements (for example, two consecutive data element vectors: [v0, v1, . . . , v15] and [u0, u1, . . . , u15]) such that a subset is store in the same register (using the operand modifiers, for example, first half of the V vector is saved in r0, second half in r1, first half of the U vector in r1 and second in r0. This will result in the elements [v8, v9, . . . , v15, u0, u1, . . . , u7] stored in r1 register).

Runtime instruction decoding modification in a multi-processing array


A solar servo control tracking device is disclosed. The device includes: an integrated control device having a solar cell sensor unit detecting luminance at a solar azimuth, and an integrated control panel transmitting a control signal at a maximal solar azimuth, calculated by comparing a solar azimuth from the luminance at a solar azimuth; and solar tracking devices, respectively having a tracking device controller receiving the control signal via a wireless link, a high torque driving unit with an AC single phase inductor to generate driving torque by the control signal from the tracking device controller, solar module assemblies driven by the high torque driving unit to track the solar azimuth in accordance with the control signal, and an operating angle sensor unit installed to the high torque driving unit to detect operating angles of the solar module assemblies that track the sun by the control signal.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a solar servo control tracking device, and more particularly, to a solar servo control tracking device remotely servo-controlling and remotely monitoring a solar module assembly and being smoothly driven in accordance with a solar azimuth.
2. Description of the Related Art
An existing solar tracking device uses a power transmission including a direct current (DC) motor and a worm gear to provide a driving force to a photo-conductive cell (CdS) and a solar module assembly by measuring luminance and a proximity sensor to detect a rotation angle of the tracking device.
However, the related art has the following disadvantages:
Since the existing CdS type light sensor is fixed to top of the solar module assembly to detect a solar azimuth entered in a specific azimuth, it is difficult to detect the solar azimuth when weather is changeable, that is, alternating cloudy and clear.
The existing CdS type light sensors are attached to the top of every solar module assembly one by one so that cost increases, and due to characteristics of the CdS, the solar azimuth detected by the tracking device in a power station has a large error range.
A drive unit using an existing DC motor has insufficient driving torque to drive more than six solar module assemblies.
Since a DC motor is employed as a driving source of the solar module assembly and a switching mode power supply converting commercial AC 220V into DC power is required, that becomes an economic burden.
Since a driven angle of the solar module assembly is estimated by counting pulses generated per one revolution using a proximity sensor in order to detect the driven angle of the solar module assembly, it is difficult to precisely control the driven angle of the solar module assembly.
Artificial manipulation is required in order to maintain the horizontal stability of the solar module assembly in order to prevent damage from, for instance, a typhoon at the site to which a typhoon is coming.
Since the solar module assembly is independently driven and there is no function of monitoring the same, an operator must visit the site at which the solar module assembly is installed to inspect it. Therefore, it is expensive to maintain the solar module assembly.


A press bar for supporting a weight during a weightlifting exercise includes a body that has a first end, a second end, and a body-axis that passes through the first and second ends, wherein the body-axis is substantially horizontal when the press bar lies on a substantially horizontal surface. In addition to the body, the press bar includes a handle connected to the body. The handle includes a grip positioned relative to the body-axis. The grip has a longitudinal axis lying in a plane that is vertical when the press bar lies on a substantially horizontal surface. The position of the grip relative to the body-axis is such that the body-axis does not intersect the grip, but does intersect the plane at an angle between 45° and 135°.

Many people exercise to improve their health and/or physique, and often, such exercise includes lifting weights. Lifting weights can be done with the aid of a machine, such as a nautilus and/or universal gym; or with the aid of a bar that is free—not connected to or confined by a machine—that one grasps and moves relative to a portion of one's body, such as one's chest for a bench press. To lift the desired weight for a desired number of repetitions, one or more weights can be releasably attached to the bar. Exercises that include moving the free bar, also known as a press bar (20 in FIGS. 1A-1C), with or without an attached weight 22 (two shown attached to a bar 20) are commonly referred to as free-weight exercises. Each of the three figures, FIGS. 1A-1C, respectively shows an example of three common free-weight exercises—the bench press, military press, and squat.
Many exercise programs include free-weight exercises because one uses more muscles in one's arms, back and legs during the lifting to stabilize the bar 20 than one uses when lifting with a nautilus (not shown) and/or universal gym (not shown). Unfortunately, in these and other free-weight exercises, pushing against the press bar 20 to lift or hold one or more weights can cause pain in and/or damage one's wrists, elbows, shoulders and/or back because grasping the press bar 20 with both hands as show in FIGS. 1A-1C causes the wrist, elbow, and shoulder of each arm to not be aligned in an anatomically proper alignment for pushing. An anatomically proper alignment for pushing against the press bar includes positioning the elbow closer to the body to keep the humerus, clavical and scapula bones (not shown) and their corresponding muscles, tendons and ligaments (not shown) that comprise the shoulder in an alignment that provides optimal blood flow and power. The anatomically proper alignment also includes positioning each hand so that it opens toward the other hand.
In addition to improper anatomical alignment of one's arm, pushing against the press bar 20 to lift a large amount of weight can be difficult because the press bar and weight can be difficult to stabilize within one's grip. Pushing against the press bar 20 at a position that is level with or below the bar and weight's center of gravity urges the press bar 20 to rotate in one's grip, and/or roll over one's wrist. The center of gravity is the point at which the entire weight of the press bar 20 and any attached weights 22 may be considered as concentrated so that if supported at this point the press bar 20 and attached weights 22 would remain in equilibrium in any position. To prevent the rotation and/or rolling, one tightly grips the press bar 20 and focuses on adjusting the direction of one's push. Thus, the conventional press bar can be difficult to hold onto during a free-weight exercise.

Press bars for weightlifting exercises and related methods for using them