An agricultural implement includes a frame and at least one wing boom pivotably coupled to the frame. The wing boom is designed to extend generally perpendicularly from the frame when in a working position and generally adjacent the frame when in a transport or stowed position. The outer end of the wing boom rests in a cradle coupled to the frame. The frame further includes a handrail that may be pivoted toward the frame to provide clearance for the cradle when the wing boom is moved to the stowed position.

The present invention relates generally to agricultural implements and, more particularly, to an agricultural sprayer having a pivoting handrail.
Many types of agricultural implements, such as sprayers and planters, have a frame to which a pair of wing booms is pivotably mounted. Depending on the type of agricultural implement, spraying units, seeding units, etc. are mounted to and carried by the wing booms. Generally, the wing booms are mounted at or near a rear end of the frame and pivot between a folded position and an extended position. When the wing booms are in the extended position, the wing booms are generally perpendicular to the implement's path of travel. When the wing booms are in the folded position, the wing booms are folded forward about the rear pivot and generally adjacent the frame. When in the folded position, the wing booms are generally parallel to the path of travel. The wing booms are typically placed in the folded position when the agricultural implement is being stored or transported to and from a work site.
To increase efficiency, agricultural implements are increasingly being equipped with wing booms having greater length thereby increasing the number of spraying units, seed units, and the like that can be mounted to and carried by the wing booms. To place the wing booms in the stowed or transport position, it is necessary for the wing boom itself to fold. For example, the Patriot Sprayer 4420 commercially available from Case New Holland of Benson, Minn. may be mounted with a tri-folding 120 foot wing boom. To lessen the load placed on the rear pivot when the wing booms are folded, a cradle or similar structure is mounted near the front of the implement frame and the outer end of the folded wing boom rests in the cradle.
Many agricultural implements, such as a sprayer, include a platform mounted to the frame that serves as a walkway between the operator cab and the rear components of the implement. When the wing booms are pivoted or folded forward, the cradle is positioned generally over the platform. As such, when the agricultural implement is equipped with a handrail for the platform, the handrail must be removed before the wing booms are folded forward to the stowed position. As this can be time consuming and difficult when in the field, it is not uncommon for the handrail to be removed and left off entirely.
Thus, there remains a need for an agricultural implement in which its wing booms can be folded to a stowed position while maintaining connection of a walkway handrail.

Pivoting handrail for an agricultural sprayer


The average size of ammonium sulfate crystals is increased by passing undersized ammonium sulfate crystals through a multistage apparatus in which the crystals are contacted with an aqueous ammonium sulfate spray in a first heated chamber to increase the average size of the crystals, the enlarged crystals thereafter passing through a second heated chamber to dry the enlarged crystals.

This invention relates to a process and apparatus for increasing the size of ammonium sulfate crystals, e.g., from an average size of about 0.5 mm to an average size of at least about 1.0 mm. More importantly, this invention relates to the preparation of ammonium sulfate crystals of uniform size as well as uniform moisture.
The manufacture of ammonium sulfate is an important industrial process and is the subject of a considerable body of patent and non-patent literature. See, e.g., U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,266,212; 1,919,707; 2,043,067; 2,092,073; 2,099,079; 2,102,107; 2,178,082; 2,226,101; 2,228,742; 2,368,901; 2,423,794; 2,424,207; 2,599,067; 2,631,084; 2,659,659; 2,782,097; 2,795,487; 2,805,125; 2,874,028; and 2,895,800, and Parkash, "Residence Times of Crystals in a Fluidised Bed Crystallizer", Chemistry and Industry, pp. 919-920, Jun. 3, 1967; Parkash et al., "Crystal Growth in Fluidized Beds", Indian Chemical Engineer, pp. 3-6, January 1968; Vragov, "Investigation of Ammonium Sulfate Crystallization in a Pseudo Liquified Layer", Sb. Nauch. Tr., Kuzbas. Politekh. Int., No 26, 1970; and, Postnikov et al., "Crystallization of Ammonium Sulfate in a Two-Circuit Device With a Circulating Suspension", Koksii Khimiya, No. 4, pp 24-27, 1983.
It has long been recognized that the tendency of ammonium sulfate crystals to cake on standing is lessened with increased size of the crystals. It has therefore been a goal of many of these manufacturing processes to provide ammonium sulfate crystals of larger size, e.g., averaging at least about 1.0 mm. Typically, such increased crystal size has been achieved through control of the crystallization process.
Even more significantly, where crystal size is relatively uniform, the tendency of ammonium sulfate to cake on storage is reduced. The reduced tendency to cake is further emphasized when the particles have a uniform moisture distribution. As used herein, "uniform particle size" means that the particles deviate no more than about +10% from the average particle size. For example, where the average particle is 1 mm, the smallest will be 0.9 mm and the largest 1.1 mm.

Process and apparatus for increasing the size of ammonium sulfate crystals

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Methods, systems and devices for an avionics mobile computer device capable of carrying out communications while moving among a plurality of inter-connected networks, and a mobile computer management device for managing moving location information of the mobile computer and transferring packets destined to the avionics mobile computer to a current location of the avionics mobile computer, as well as a mobile computer management method and a communication control method suitable for these devices.

Known prior art communication management systems for avionics includes International Patent Application WO 2007134498 A1 which describes a system and method for implementing the mobile interne protocol IP access. U.S. Pat. No. 6,978,128 issued to Raman Dec. 20, 2005 describes a system and method to allow simple IP mobile nodes to operate seamlessly in a mobile IP network (home and foreign) with true roaming capabilities.

Air to ground management of multiple communication paths


A mobile device includes a docking unit for docking with an external device, and an integrated circuit chip including an impedance matching circuit for impedance matching of an internal bus outside of the integrated circuit chip, wherein activation or deactivation of the impedance matching circuit is determined based on whether the docking unit is docked.

1. Field
Exemplary embodiments of the present invention relate to an integrated circuit chip and a mobile device including the same, and more particularly, to a technology for efficiently using an impedance matching function.
2. Description of the Related Art
Various integrated circuit chips such as CPUs, memories, or gate arrays are embedded in various electrical products such as personal computers, servers, or mobile phones. In most cases, the integrated circuit chip has a receiver for receiving various signals, which are transmitted from an outside, through an input pad, and a transmitter for transmitting internal signals externally through an output pad.
Meanwhile, as an electrical product operates at a high speed, an impedance matching between integrated circuit chips becomes very important. When an impedance mismatching occurs, signals transferred at a high speed between the chips may be reflected, and thus a certain receiver may not normally recognize the signals.
FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an impedance matching circuit used in a conventional integrated circuit chip.
Referring to FIG. 1, the integrated circuit chip includes a pull-up resistor 101 and a pull-down resistor 102, a pull-up switch SW1 and a pull-down switch SW2. The integrated circuit chip performs an impedance matching operation of an input/output pad I/O PAD by terminating the input/output pad I/O PAD in pull-up and pull-down directions. An on/off signal ON/OFF, applied to the pull-up and pull-down switches SW1 and SW2, is for turning on/off the impedance matching circuit.
When the impedance matching circuit is turned on, impedance of a transmission channel connected to the input/output pad I/O PAD is matched, so that a signal can be stably input and output. When the impedance matching circuit is turned on, a current path is formed from a power supply voltage terminal VDD to a ground terminal VSS through the pull-up resistor 101 and the pull-down resistor 102. Although the use of the impedance matching circuit guarantees stable signal transmission, simultaneously causes high current consumption. Due to the high current consumption in the impedance matching circuit, an integrated circuit chip in most devices driven by a battery does not use the impedance matching circuit. For example, although the impedance matching circuit is provided in a memory chip used in a mobile device, the impedance matching circuit is generally deactivated.

Integrated circuit chip, mobile device including the same, and method for operating the mobile device with improved impedance matching function control


An image processing apparatus which is capable of improving the visibility and operability of icons for a user. The image processing apparatus includes a console section. A button data import-processing section acquires location information of a server on a network. A server stores icon data indicating an icon to be displayed on a console section, for use in executing predetermined processing. When the location information is acquired, a communication section accesses the server indicated by the location information to thereby acquire icon data. The console section is caused to display the icon indicated by the acquired icon data.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus, a method of controlling the image processing apparatus, an image processing system, and a storage medium, and more particularly to an image processing apparatus that display icons, a method of controlling the image processing apparatus, an image processing system, and a storage medium,
2. Description of the Related Art
It is known that an information processing apparatus, such as a PC (personal computer), is connected to a web server on a network, and displays an operation screen provided by the web server on a web browser of the information processing apparatus.
In this case, the web browser of the information processing apparatus requests the web server to provide the operation screen, and in response to this request from the information processing apparatus, a web application on the web server transmits contents for causing the operation screen to be displayed on the web browser to the information processing apparatus. The contents comprise an HTML file, an image file, a script file, and so forth.
The web browser of the information processing apparatus analyzes the received contents, and displays the operation screen based on the description of the contents. Then, when a user inputs an instruction via the operation screen displayed on the web browser, the web browser notifies the input instruction to the web server. Upon receipt of the notification, the web application on the web server executes processing according to the input instruction.
Some of recent image processing apparatuses (multi-function peripherals) equipped with a scanner and a printer are provided with such a web browser as described above (see e.g. Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2006-127503).
According to Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2006-127503, first, a web server provides an operation screen for using the functions of an image processing apparatus. When a user inputs an instruction to the image processing apparatus via an operation screen displayed on the web browser of the image processing apparatus, the web browser sends the input instruction to the web server. The web server having received the instruction requests the image processing apparatus to execute associated processes according to the instruction input by the user. The image processing apparatus having received the request executes the requested processes.
The image processing apparatus of this type has its operation screen provided by a web server outside the image processing apparatus, and hence it is possible to easily change and customize the operation screen.
Some of such image processing apparatuses using an external web server, as described above, are capable of registering a shortcut button (web top button) of the web browser which is associated with an URL address of the web server.
When the web top button is selected, the web browser is displayed on the operation screen. The web browser accesses the web server of the URL registered in the web top button, and displays web screen contents of the URL. This is the same process as executed when a favorite is selected on a general browser.
Normally, a web top button has an icon displayed thereon. Since the web top button is registered as a shortcut to the web browser, normally, an icon for a web browser application is displayed.
In other words, even when different URL addresses have been registered in a plurality of web top buttons, respectively, the same icon is displayed on the web top buttons.
On the other hand, some information processing apparatuses, such as PCs, sometimes display icons acquired from web servers on respective web top buttons. In this case, the icons displayed on the web top buttons are acquired on a web server basis, and hence even when a plurality of web top buttons are displayed, the user can easily identify each web top button.
By applying such a method to the icons on the web top buttons of the image processing apparatus, it is possible to display respective different icons on the web top buttons.
Some of the image processing apparatuses of the above-described type have a function of exporting information on registered web top buttons as a file. By importing the exported file into another image processing apparatus, it is possible for the other image processing apparatus to use the same web top buttons as used in the image processing apparatus that has exported the file. This is the same method as employed in the normal web browser when favorite items are exported and imported.
However, when information on web top buttons is exported, in an image processing apparatus having the information imported, icons on the web top buttons become an icon for a web browser application. This is because the exported web top button data does not contain icon data to be displayed on the web top buttons.
In the image processing apparatus having imported the information on the web top buttons, when any of the web top buttons is depressed, the image processing apparatus accesses an associated web server to acquire an icon therefrom. It is not until this time that the display of the icon on the web top button is changed.
Therefore, when the information has been imported, even if different URL addresses have been registered in association with respective web top buttons, the same icon is displayed on the web top buttons, which brings about a problem that it is difficult for the user to identify the web top buttons from each other.

Image processing apparatus that displays icon, method of controlling the same, image processing system, and storage medium


An LCD module is associated with a pair of switches, one of which is depressed by pressing the LCD module to swivel in a seesaw operation. The LCD module has a front panel having a larger thickness than and thus capable of protecting the LC layer and the rear panel against a reasonable external load for pressing the front panel for switching. The LCD module is suited for use in a portable terminal having a smaller space for switches and LCD module.

(a) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a liquid crystal display (LCD) module and, more particularly, to the structure of a combination switch including the LCD module.
(b) Description of the Related Art
In recent years, portable terminals, such as a portable data assistant or a mobile telephone, have been developed for achieving smaller dimensions and higher performances as well as excellent appearance using decorations. The higher performances should include higher functions of the portable terminals as well as simplification of the operation thereof. The simplification of the operations is partially achieved by large dimensions of a display module, such as an LCD module, which displays a guidance image for the operations.
In the circumstances as described above, the LCD module used in the portable terminal has increasingly larger dimensions. Among other parts of the portable terminal, the LCD module has a lower mechanical resistance against an external force, and thus is generally protected by an overcoat layer. The provision of the overcoat layer increases the thickness of the portable terminal, however. In addition, increase of the number of operations in the portable terminal may necessitate allocation of a single switch button to a plurality of functions, which complicates the operation itself of the portable terminal and confuses the user.
The display on the LCD module of the portable terminal is generally switched for providing a variety of operational information in view of the increase of the number of functions and services provided by the portable terminal. Examples of such a switching of the display for the operational information include a switching between a waiting mode at which the LCD module displays time information, residual battery power, antenna sensitivity or mode information such as a manner mode or vibration mode of the portable terminal, and a calling mode at which the LCD module displays a telephone number. The switching of the display on the LCD module is implemented by a changeover switch which switches between a plurality of installed programs.
The increase in the functions of the portable terminal necessitates an increase in the display area of the LCD module in the portable terminal. The provision of the changeover switch as well as provision of a number of other operational switches on a housing or casing of the portable terminal decreases the area of the housing to be allocated to the LCD module. Thus, a trade-off arises between a larger display area for the LCD module and the provision of a number of operational switches.
JP Patent No. 3019893 is directed to a camera having an installed zoom lens and implies a solution for the trade-off in the portable terminal as described above. The described camera includes a substrate, an LCD module formed thereon, and a changeover switch or seesaw switch mounted on the substrate for switching the zooming direction of the zoom lens. The substrate further mounts thereon a large number of electric interconnections.
The seesaw switch includes a pair of electric contacts sandwiching therebetween the LCD module and normally urged to a neutral position, and an arched lever made of a transparent material for allowing the LCD module to be observed therethrough and having a pair of protrusions which respectively abut against the electric contacts at the operating positions of the seesaw switch. The swivel axis of the lever of the seesaw switch extends parallel to the camera body or casing and overlies the center of the LCD module.
The seesaw switch effects abutment between each of the electric contacts and a corresponding one of the protrusions by a swivel operation, while allowing the zooming direction of the zoom lens to be observed on the LCD module. The LCD module is formed on a substrate, which is fixed onto the camera body, for indicating a variety of operational information including the zooming direction.
The described camera includes the lever of the seesaw switch, which also functions as a protective member for protecting the LCD module against an external force. This allows reduction of the total area for the operational switch and the LCD module, thereby solving the trade-off between the operational switches and the LCD module in the camera.
If the technique as described above is used in a portable terminal for solving the trade-off as described before, there arises a problem in that the structure of fixing the substrate mounting thereon the LCD module and the seesaw switch onto the camera body is complicated. In addition, the structure of the lever of the seesaw switch overlying the LCD module restricts the direction of the movement of the lever, which cannot be moved or slid in the direction parallel to the substrate because the sliding movement of the lever shields the end portions of the LCD module.

LCD module and a combination switch using the same


A carrier is comprised of a thermoplastic polymer such as polyetheretherketone which is formed or fabricated as a uniform thickness, double sided flat sheet of material with wafer passages therethrough and gear teeth formed or fabricated around the peripheral edge thereof so as to be cooperative with a wafer polishing machine. An extrusion or rolling or calendering process provides a flat carrier which is, optionally, coated with thermoset polymer or thermoplastic film.

This invention relates to a carrier which is used as a workpiece holder in combination with a workpiece polishing apparatus. More particularly, this invention relates to flat planar carriers, made of polymeric materials, which retain or hold items for polishing metal, semiconductor materials or other substrates by appropriately positioning those materials or substrates in a polishing machine and maintaining the materials or substrates in the desired position in such a machine.
The metal or semiconductor materials which are to be polished are preferably in the form of wafers or discs which require extremely flat, polished surfaces to provide maximum useful surface area so they may be fabricated as computer or electronic components. Also, there are other fields which require wafers of metals or semiconductor materials wherein one or both surfaces of each wafer must be appropriately polished to a high degree of flatness with minimum surface distortion and imperfection.
Apparatus have been developed for polishing of wafers of this type, including wafer polishing apparatus as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,329,732 issued Jul. 19, 1994 to Karlsrud et al. for a Wafer Polishing Method and Apparatus, which patent is incorporated herewith by reference. Another apparatus of this general type used for such purposes is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,274,960 issued Jan. 4, 1994 in the name of Karlsrud for a Uniform Velocity Double Sided Finishing Machine, which patent is also incorporated herewith by reference.
In polishing apparatus of the type disclosed in the reference patents, carrier sheets or carrier gears are used to retain and position the wafers that are being polished between polishing platens. Thus, wafers, which have a nominal thickness, are retained in openings defined in flat carrier sheets. The polishing apparatus will then effect a polishing action on the surface of the wafer materials as they are retained and maintained in position in the carrier sheet. The carrier sheets or carriers may have various shapes, and the openings for retention of the wafers in the sheets may also have various shapes and/or configurations, generally congruent with shape of the wafer held by the sheet. Further, the carriers may have an outside, peripheral gear coactive with a driving gear of the polishing apparatus to thereby facilitate movement of the carriers and the wafers retained thereby during the polishing operation.
In the past, carriers were usually made from metals such as sheet steel, aluminum or thermoplastic polymers having moderate mechanical properties. Polymers such as polycarbonates, acrylics or fiber reinforced thermosetting resin such as glass fiber/epoxy, carbon fiber/epoxy or natural fiber (cotton or linen)/phenolic were used as carrier materials. A disadvantage observed in the use of metal carriers is that metal particles will abrade from the carrier or carrier gear, usually from the gear teeth of the carrier or from the surface. The particles may then cause scratching of the wafers which are being polished as they are held by the carrier.
A difficulty observed with prior art carriers made from thermoplastic polymers having moderate mechanical properties is that such polymers do not retain their shape, particularly if the carrier (carrier gear or carrier sheet) is very thin i.e. less than a millimeter, for example. This problem is exacerbated if the carrier is of a large diameter, for example, about 250 millimeters to 750 millimeters. Such polymers are also not sufficiently stiff to remain flat as a thin sheet or film and therefore may result in damage to the object or wafer which is being polished when held by such a carrier. Of course the objects being polished are typically rather thin. Thus, it is necessary to provide a thin, uniform thickness carrier having a thickness which is slightly less than the finished thickness of the object being polished.
A difficulty observed with carrier gears or carriers made from fiber reinforced thermosetting resins is that they are often brittle. Also, the reinforcement materials may be harder than the material being polished, for example if the reinforcement materials are glass or carbon fibers. In such circumstances, the reinforcement materials may abrade the wafer which is to be polished. That is, pieces of the hard materials, such as the carbon fiber, will come into contact with the wafer surface being polished and scratch that surface, causing an unsatisfactory finish.
In sum, it is a desirable and beneficial objective that such carriers be designed to retain a flat object such as a disc or wafer in a fixed position during grinding and/or polishing. Such carriers may or may not be in the form of a spur gear. Such carriers must have a high degree of strength and flexural modulus so as to appropriately hold, retain and maintain the object being polished. The carrier or carrier gear should also be comprised of materials which will not flake, shred or shard or otherwise interfere with the polishing activity or action. These objectives, among others, inspired the development of carrier gear construction disclosed and claimed.

Polymer carrier gears for polishing of flat objects


A scaffolding system having a first frame connected to a second frame with at least one platform disposed therebetween. The first frame includes a first set of posts connected together by an upper cross member. The second frame includes a second set of posts connected together by a lower cross member. The platform is adapted to be detachably secured to the upper cross member and sandwiched between the upper cross member and the lower cross member such that an upper surface of the lower cross member is generally flush with the platform, thus forming a continuous walking surface. The lower cross member prevents removal of the platform while the second frame is connected to the first frame.

Scaffolding systems are known in the construction industry for providing access to an elevated work space, such as the outside of a building. Because of ever-increasing construction costs, cost-efficient scaffolding systems that can be quickly assembled are highly desirable.
One known scaffolding system provides for separate frame units that can be joined together without requiring any tools. In this type of system, a bottom frame is provided with a horizontal bar. The horizontal bar has a plurality of stud connections attached thereto. A platform having a mounting bracket is engaged with the stud connections such that the studs extend through the mounting bracket, thereby attaching the platform to the bottom frame. A top frame is then attached to the top of the bottom frame. The disadvantage to such a system is that a horizontal bar of the top frame, which is necessary to hold the top frame together and for maintaining the structural stability of the frame unit, is disposed above an upper surface of the platform. This horizontal bar makes it awkward for workers to travel along the platform sections as they must stop and step over the horizontal bar when walking to and from other sections of the scaffolding system. This is especially true when the worker is carrying heavy equipment from one work area to another.
In another known scaffolding system the horizontal bar of the bottom unit is provided with a U-shaped cross section. The horizontal bar of the top unit has a T-shaped cross section, such that a bottom leg of the T can extend into a trough formed by the U-shaped horizontal bar. Top flanges of the T-shaped bar further include spaced apart notches in which integral hooks, which are formed on ends of the platforms, are received. Once the hooks are positioned in the notches, the platform is slid laterally away from the notches such that the hooks of the platform are trapped between the T-shaped horizontal bar and the U-shaped horizontal bar. In this type of arrangement, the obstruction of the elevated horizontal bar is reduced to having to step over a small lip formed between the top surface of the T-shaped bar and the platform surface. However, this system is more costly to manufacture than other scaffolding systems, due to the varying shapes of the horizontal bars. Further, there is no means for preventing someone from easily tampering with the platforms nor for preventing the hooks from unintentionally sliding back into alignment with the notches whereby the platforms can accidentally become dislodged from the U-shaped bar, resulting in a loss of the bracing effect which the platforms provide when they are properly engaged with the frames.
Therefore, there exists a need for a scaffolding system which is quickly and easily assembled, cost-efficient to manufacture, and has a continuous, uninterrupted walking surface. Further, a scaffolding system is needed which serves to securely retain the platform in place on the frames, as well as reduce the likelihood of tampering.


Embodiments of the disclosure provide an indoor positioning device, a movable device including the same, a method for positioning a movable device in an indoor space and a computer-readable medium. The indoor positioning device includes an imaging unit for capturing image information of at least one of a plurality of luminaires which are located at a top of the indoor space, a storage unit for storing information of a luminaire Voronoi diagram includes a plurality of Voronoi diagram units, each Voronoi diagram unit includes a generator which is located in a projection of a respective luminaire of the plurality of luminaires on a horizontal plane of the indoor space, and a processor for receiving the image information and the information of the luminaire Voronoi diagram, and calculate a position of the imaging unit in the indoor space based on the image information and the information of the luminaire Voronoi diagram.

At present, conventional indoor positioning techniques include visible light positioning and received signal strength (RSS)-based positioning. The visible light positioning usually requires that a lighting fixture should have a communication function for sending positional information or identifiers of the lighting fixture to a positioning device, so the lighting fixture is required to be equipped with a wireless communication device, or it is necessary to modify the lighting fixture such that it has a visible light communication capability that enables it to send specified identifiers based on changes in light emitting parameters (such as brightness, color and spectrum). Therefore, the visible light positioning based on light communication leads to a higher cost of the lighting fixture. The received signal strength (RSS)-based positioning involves transmission of electromagnetic waves or acoustic waves in an indoor space, but this method is subject to multipath effects, which is unfavorable to the improvement of positioning accuracy. Highly accurate positioning requires highly dense arrangement of signal sources, which also causes increase in the cost.

Indoor space positioning based on Voronoi diagram


Methods and systems for monitoring a dynamic compensation control system of an elevator system are provided. The methods and systems include monitoring a first motion state sensor signal generated by a first motion state sensor, the first motion state sensor associated with an elevator machine, monitoring a second motion state sensor signal generated by a second motion state sensor, the second motion state sensor located on an elevator car, determining an operational status of the second motion state sensor based on an analysis of the first motion state sensor signal and the second motion state sensor signal, and when it is determined that a failure status of the second motion state sensor is present, the method further comprises deactivating a dynamic compensation control mode of operation of the elevator system.

The subject matter disclosed herein generally relates to elevator systems and, more particularly, to health monitoring systems and methods of features of elevator systems.
An elevator system typically includes a plurality of belts or ropes (load bearing members) that move an elevator car vertically within a hoistway or elevator shaft between a plurality of elevator landings. When the elevator car is stopped at a respective one of the elevator landings, changes in magnitude of a load within the car can cause changes in vertical motion state (e.g., position, velocity, acceleration) of the car relative to the landing. The elevator car can move vertically down relative to the elevator landing, for example, when one or more passengers and/or cargo move from the landing into the elevator car. In another example, the elevator car can move vertically up relative to the elevator landing when one or more passengers and/or cargo move from the elevator car onto the landing. Such changes in the vertical position of the elevator car can be caused by soft hitch springs and/or stretching and/or contracting of the load bearing members, particularly where the elevator system has a relatively large travel height and/or a relatively small number of load bearing members. Under certain conditions, the stretching and/or contracting of the load bearing members and/or hitch springs can create disruptive oscillations in the vertical position of the elevator car, e.g., an up and down "bounce" motion.

Health monitoring systems and methods for elevator systems


A color printing system which deposits colors on a separation by separation basis provides trapping to correct misregistration between printer output colors due to imperfect placement of the separation colors. The system includes a trapping calculation processor, determining trapping requirements based on visibility, measured in a color space in which equivalent color differences in human color perception are approximately equivalent values.

The layout of a page or graphic image depends upon combining "structured graphics" according to a pre-established graphic design. The structured graphics are contiguous regions of color, usually represented in a plurality of separation images, in turn representing a succession of graphic objects imaged on the printing medium (e.g. the "paper"). The objects so imaged are shapes which can be isolated from each other, can abut one another at one or more points, can partially overlap one another, or can completely overlap one another. The resulting printed page or graphic image is therefore made up of a patchwork of shapes representing the graphic objects, some of which are "clipped" (or hidden) by objects imaged later in the succession.
The result of abutting or overlapping shapes is a boundary between adjacent regions of color which, under ideal printing conditions should have zero width. That is, the one color should stop exactly where the other begins, with no new colors introduced along the boundary by the printing process itself. The "colors" which fill the shapes can be solid colors, tints, degrades, contone images, or "no fill" (i.e., the paper with no ink applied). In general, the "colors" represented in these adjacent regions are printed using more than one colorant. In practice therefore, the realization of a zero width boundary between regions of different color is impossible as a result of small but visible misregistration problems from one printed separation to another. The error is manifested as a "light leak" or as a visible boundary region of an undesired color.
As an example, FIG. 1A shows an ideal boundary between a red region on the right and a cyan region on the left, while FIG. 1B shows a non-ideal boundary, resulting from a slight misregistration of the magenta separation to the left on the page. Between the red and cyan regions is formed a blue line, from the unintended combination of cyan and magenta. On the right-hand side of the red region will be formed a yellow line, again resulting from a slight misregistration of the magenta separation to the left on the page.
The problem of misregistration is a mechanical problem, almost always existing in printing systems. The problem arises because color separations are not laid exactly where intended, due to inherent imperfections in any separation registration process. It is somewhat correctable by mechanical registration methods; however it is rarely completely correctable. In expensive, high end printing processes, customers have high expectations that misregistration artifacts will not be visible. In inexpensive, low end printers, mechanical registration techniques are so expensive as to make correction or trapping essential.
As will become apparent, different printing technologies have distinct misregistration artifacts. Offset printing tends to have uniform misregistration in all directions. However, xerographic printing tends to have more misregistration in a single direction.
Methods for correcting for this misregistration are known. The general approach is to expand one of the abutting regions' separations to fill the gap or misregistration border region with a color determined to minimize the visual effect when printed. Borders or edges expanded from a region of one color to another in this manner are said to be "spread". A border which has been expanded is referred to as a "trap", and the zone within which color is added is called the "trap zone".
Commonly used methods for automatic trapping of digital images fall into the categories of vector-based and raster-based methods. Vector-based methods rely on images that have been converted from a page-description language form, describing objects as characters, polygonal shapes, etc. into an internal data structure containing not only object information, but also a list of all the edges between regions of different color. Raster-based methods rely on images that have been first scanned or converted from page-description based form and are stored internally as a sequence of (high resolution) scan lines each containing individual scan elements or pixels. These methods process each raster line in sequence and compare one or more adjacent pixels to determine color boundaries. After some initial processing to find edges, both vector-based and raster-based methods apply rules for determining whether or not to create a trap at such boundaries, and finally apply a second set of rules to determine the nature of the trap if one is to be created.
Thus, it can be seen at FIG. 2 that most trapping processes take the following format which shall be referenced throughout this discussion.
A. Find edges in the image, no matter how described (step 101);
B. For each pair of colors on each side of the found edge, determine:                1) Whether trapping should be used (step 102)        2) If so, what color should be used (step 103), and        3) Where should that color be located or placed (step 104)
C. Modify the image accordingly (Step 105).
The present invention focuses on several elements of step B. Edge detection and image manipulation to perform trapping may be done in any of several standard processes.
For example, the method of Taniguchi, described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,931,861, uses two rasterized images representing abutting or overlapping objects within an image field to define a third binary image representing the map of the pixels which make up the borders between the first and second images. These three images are superimposed, pixel by pixel, to create a fourth and final binary image.
The method of Darby et al., described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,725,966, again defined on a pixel basis, uses a mask which is moved, one resolution element at a time, to evaluate the presence or absence of (pixel) colors upon which a positive or negative spread decision is based.
The method of Yosefi, described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,113,249, uses a set of automated rules as the basis for deciding, for each pair of abutting or overlapping shapes, whether or not to create a trap (an overlap region referred to as a "frame"), and, if so, the nature of the trap to create. The embodiment described by Yosefi makes use of scanned data, and processes each line of pixels in order, comparing for each pixel three pixels from the previous scan line and two pixels from the same line to determine if a color change has occurred. The decisions regarding whether or not to create a trap, and the nature of such a trap if created are imbedded within the processing sequence, making use of criteria established prior to the onset of processing. Yosefi describes rules to follow after finding an edge and knowing the two colors. There are 24 rules based on whether the colors are tints, special colors (like gold leaf), black, yellow, "window" (meaning scanned image) and various combinations.
A commercially available product, "TrapWise", from Aldus Corporation, Seattle, Wash., also makes use of a raster approach to trapping. In this product, the processing time is proportional to the number of resolution elements, thereby increasing quadratically with resolution, and leading to greater computation times for high device resolution, e.g., 3600 dots per inch (d.p.i.). Furthermore, traps are created with this package using pre-set rules, and are not editable by a user without the requirement for repeating the computation.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,583,116 to Hennig et al. describes a trapping process that evaluates the darkness on both sides of an edge in order to determine which object determines the contour. The object determining the contour is left unchanged. The other object is spread under it. The fill is constant, and matches the value of the separation being spread. The "darkest" separation is used to determine the contour and kept constant, while the lighter separations are all spread.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,700,399 describes a method that finds edges and uses a different UCR along the edges from elsewhere to allow rich black without getting color bleeding along the edges of black objects. The method requires keeping colors away from edges of black text.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,931,861 to Taniguchi describes using binary operators to shrink or spread a shape where another shape is overlapped in another separation (thresholding is used to get these shapes). Also described is spreading where two shapes are adjacent, and do not overlap.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,131,058 to Ting et al. converts a raster to an edge-based "outline" representation. Then the outlines are spread and the resulting image is re-rasterized. Spreading is done separation-wise with a process indicating whether there is a color difference that warrants spreading/choking.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,295,236 Bjorge, et al. is believed by the applicant to represent the Adobe or Aldus TrapWise product described above. This patent describes ways of deriving the information about edges required to trap, trapping with some simple rules, and converting the traps to vectors which are converted back to PDL form.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,204,918 to Hirosawa assumes vector data as input, describing the contours, i.e., no edge detection is performed. Image parts are selected in order of increasing priority. For parts of a contour of an image part where there is a lower priority image part adjacent, two supplemental contours are generated. These are offsets at a specified distance from the original contour. A new color is computed for the entire offset region (both sides of the original, not just where there is another object). The maximum density of the two sides is used in the correction region. Minimum density might be used instead. The edge following required is either done in a frame buffer, or directly on vector data.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,402,530 to Boenke et al. uses a PDL input, and builds a data-structure using a modified Weiler algorithm to represent the contours. It is object-based, in that it considers four classes of object: interior fills, strokes on the borders of regions, text on top of regions, and text on its own.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,386,223 to Saitoh et al. addresses two-color printing, extending one color into another where they abut. It suggests that it is desirable to extend the lighter color.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,542,052 to Deutsch, et al. claims a set of geometric rules. First, a relative darkness to each color is assigned, with key being the darkest color, cyan being a middle darkness color, and yellow being the lightest color. Then, the lighter color is spread under the darker color. A trap vector is drawn in a color which is a function of the two colors abutting each side of the edge.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,313,570 to Dermer, et al. takes either raster or PDL input, and creates an intermediate, vector-based form. The manipulations themselves are based on a plane sweep algorithm generating a display list and then from that display list generating a new representation called a scan beam table. The active edge table has a polygon stack for each edge. From these representations, a boundary map is generated.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,668,931 to Dermer describes trapping rules. The overall concept is to have a set of evaluation methods, and for each candidate trap, let each of the evaluation methods decide whether it is an optimum trap. Each method ranks all of the candidate traps, and then the traps are scored, using the weighted sum of the rankings. In this way some evaluation methods are more influential than others. Candidate traps appear to consist of the typical spreads and chokes, although the disclosure suggests that reduced amounts are also possible. The evaluation methods are as follows: 1) For each possible misregistration, determine the minimum distance in CIELUV from the two bounding colors, and then use the maximum of those minima as a score; 2) Determine the CIELUV distance from the trap color to the color into which it is spread; 3) For each misregistration, determine the difference in L* values from each of the bounding colors, with the score set as the maximum value of the set—i.e., favoring relatively darker misregistration colors; 4) For each misregistration color, determining the absolute difference in L* value from each bounding color, so that the score is based only on lightness differences; 5) Determine the L* value of each misregistration color, with the score indicating dark misregistration colors; 6) Determine the L* of the bounding colors and assign a score equal to the absolute difference in L* when a dark color is spread into a light, or zero when a light color is spread into a dark, penalizing the former; 7) Use the highest percentage of yellow in a misregistration color. The weights are determined empirically, and can be adjusted over time, or as a particular application demands. They are initially determined by a least squares process based on expert evaluation of a number of calibration traps.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,613,046 to Dermer describes a user interface allowing the display of an image, and selection of any color, pair, object, edge or color and modification of the trapping behavior in terms of inward/outward, or what color, how automatic or manual to be, etc. It also allows display of the effect of any of the 16 possible misregistrations on the selected color pair, object, edge or color, with or without the current trapping applied, and to iterate through the possible modifications, applying several possible traps to see which is best.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,440,652 to Ting describes a process to find an edge and track it, building a secondary edge during processing. The secondary edge will be used as the other side of the trap region. The placement of the secondary edge and the color of the region between is determined by reference to a rule base.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,615,314 to Schoenzeit et al. describes a basic architecture for a RIP—printer interface. It includes buffering and queues and compression for transferring page images to the printer from the RIP. It also has control information, in particular, multiple copy and abort instructions. It also provides an optional dilation processor which "selectively dilates objects" in order to compensate for potential misregistration errors. There is no indication of how it selects. It dilates using "standard convolution techniques" such as taking the max of a 3×3 neighborhood.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,513,300 to Shibazaki describes trapping rasters against line art. They are concerned with the image and line art being at different resolutions. Line art is stored as run length data, and images as raster. The method forms a mask indicating where the image appears, and erodes or dilates the mask. The non-exempt separations of the image or line art are then copied into the eroded or dilated regions (respectively). A separation is exempt if the operator so indicates.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,386,483 to Shibazaki discusses finding a trapping region in a raster-based image. The image is segmented into regions, each of a constant color. Each such region is assigned a region number, and a lookup table is used to store the correspondence between region number, and colors, to including both CMYK, and RGB. RGB is used by the operator supervising the process with a display and mouse. The data is then run-length encoded, using runs of color table indices. The algorithm is multi-pass. On the first pass, an eight-neighbor window is used to form a pair of "frame" regions along each color boundary. On subsequent passes, a four-neighbor set is used to extend the frame region. Finally, a color is assigned to each new region thus formed. To form a "frame" region, a three scanline buffer is used. The center pixel in a window is considered to be in the frame region if 1) the pixel is located in one of the original regions (i.e., not already in a frame region), and 2) at least one neighbor is in a different region. Regions/colors have priorities specified (by the user). When the neighbor with the highest priority is part of a frame, the frame number is used for the new region of the pixel. Otherwise, a new frame number is allocated and used. It appears that priorities don't change when pixels are assigned to frame regions.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,241,396 to Harrington describes a simple raster-based technique for protecting rich black text. Black separation images are eroded and then ANDed with each of CMY separations, to produce new cyan, magenta and yellow separations. The original black is then used as the black separation.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,700,399 to Yoshida finds edges and uses a different UCR along the edges from elsewhere to allow rich black without getting color bleeding along the edges of black objects. Colors are kept away from edges of black text.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,666,543 to Gartland and U.S. Pat. No. 5,542,052 describes an arrangement providing a prolog substituted to turn on trapping. The prolog instructs the RIP to build a "shape directory" and then to trap the objects in the shape directory. The shape directory appears to be a back-to-front display list. Objects are processed in the back-to-front order. If they overlap existing objects, they are trapped against them. If the existing object already has been trapped, the traps are undone before the new traps are introduced. Thus traps are introduced as objects are processed, possibly causing a region to be trapped and re-trapped as the traps are covered up. The decision of whether to trap includes text point size and changes in separation strength.
The trapping methods described in the above cited prior art references have two common features. The first is that most process images represented in raster form. This feature places a requirement for extra processing steps in images which constitute primarily structured graphics or which combine structured graphics with contone images. Such images must first be rasterized at the output resolution, and then the appropriate line-scan algorithm applied.
The second common feature of prior art methods is the necessity to make and apply trapping decisions within the processing based upon pre-established criteria. For raster based processing at high output device resolution, the potential number of pixel-to-pixel color transitions is large due to repetition of transitions corresponding to a single color region border shared by many scan lines.
Many rule-based methods exist in the prior art for automatic determination of the particular trap to be specified for a given combination of bounding colors. For example, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,113,249, a set of logical tests is used in sequence to differentiate between pre-established generic color-pair categories, with a rule applied to each color pair. Such built-in rule systems attempt to replicate the human aesthetic judgment used in manual specification of traps and each can provide results satisfactory to an "expert" user in most cases while failing to do so in other special situations. Without a means for configuring the automatic trap selection method, a user is forced to rely on manual trap specification, even for routine operations.
The specification of a trap at the boundary between two color regions does not in itself eliminate the misregistration of printing plates, but reduces the visual effect of misregistration within the trap zone through proper choice of the trap operation. In the event of plate misregistration involving a color separation for which a trap has been specified, additional "secondary" effects occur. The secondary effects should not cause the image to be worse than when untrapped.
Prior trapping methods describe using either luminance, which is a somewhat poorly defined term, or a different and more precise parameter called lightness in determining whether to trap. The methods described use luminance or lightness values directly by assessing the difference in luminance (in some cases) or lightness (in other cases) across an edge in order to decide whether to generate a trapping zone. Generally, these values are not used in more precise measures of human perception, however. As a result, the use of luminance or lightness contrast across an edge does not always provide an adequate indicator of whether a gap created by misregistration will be visible at the edge.
Yet another problem associated with trapping is where to put the trap color. Yosefi, above indicates that this is done by spreading the darker separations of the lighter color in the direction of the darker color. Much the same approach is indicated in the specifications of other patents that address the issue: make a trap region that consists of the dark separations of the light color and the remaining separations of the dark color, and put the trap region on the dark side of the edge. Lawler, "The Complete Book of Trapping" Hayden Books, 1995, pp 21, 22, recommends spreading the lighter color into the darker color (at full strength), but when describing the determination of which color is lighter, suggests only that secondary colors are darker then the primaries they contain.
Specific models of the visibility of colored thin lines adjacent to colored backgrounds have not been noted, however there are models of the visibility of differences of color between two large colored backgrounds. A. R. Robertson, "Historical development of CIE recommended color difference equations", Color Research and Applications, 15, (3), June 1990 describes the origins of CIE L*a*b* and CIE L*u*v* color spaces. (CIE, refers to the Commission Internationale de I'Eclairage, an international standards committee specializing in color). These two spaces had the common goals of being simultaneously easy to compute, and perceptually uniform. Neither space is truly uniform throughout color space, but they have the merit of being readily computed. These two standard color spaces were adopted in 1976. In both of these color spaces L* is a correlate of lightness, while the other two coordinates give a way of specifying a color independent of its lightness. For example, in the L*a*b* system, larger values of a* indicate colors with more red in them while larger values of b* indicate colors with more yellow in them. Smaller values of a* indicate less red, or more green, while smaller values of b* indicate more blue (less yellow).
LAB color space, or CIELAB color space is based directly on CIE XYZ (1931) and represents an attempt to linearize the perceptibility of unit vector color differences. It is non-linear, and the conversions are reversible. Coloring information is relative to the color of the white point of the system, (Xn, Yn, Zn). The non-linear relationships for L* a* and b* are intended to mimic the logarithmic response of the eye.L*=116((Y/Yn)^(1/3))−16 for Y/Yn>0.008856L*=903.3(Y/Yn) for Y/Yn<=0.008856a*=500(f(X/Xn)−f(Y/Yn))b*=200(f(Y/Yn)−f(Z/Zn))where f(t)=t^(1/3) for t>0.008856f(t)=7.787*t+16/116 for t<=0.008856Again, L* scales from 0 to 100.
To calculate the difference between two colors in either CIE L*a*b* or L*u*v space, one would normally use the Euclidean distance in the color space. For example, in L*a*b*, space one would calculate the difference between two colors as ΔE=(ΔL*2+Δa*2+Δb*2)1/2. Here ΔL* is the difference between the two colors in the L* coordinate, etc.
The CIE color space specifications also include definitions of hue and chroma, so that for the L*a*b* space, they define hab=arctan(b*/a*) and Cab*.=(a*2+b*2)1/2. In this form, AC is the difference between the two chroma values, but ΔHab=(ΔEab*2−ΔL*2−ΔCab*2)1/2.
Because of the lack of true uniformity in these color spaces, further refinements have followed. Of particular interest is the CIE94 color difference model (CIE Publication 116–1995: Industrial color-difference evaluation (Technical Report) CIE Central Bureau, Vienna 1995). In this formula, ΔE94=((ΔL*2/kLSL)2+(ΔCab*2/kCSC)2+(ΔHab*2/kHSH)2)1/2, with specific functions weighting each of lightness, chroma and hue differences. For the reference viewing conditions, all of the k parameters are kept at 1. They are free to change with changes in the viewing geometry, etc. The "S" functions were specified as SL=1; SC=1+0.045 C*ab, and SH=1+0.015 C*ab. Thus, the larger the chroma (i.e., the more colorful the colors being discriminated), the larger a change in hue or chroma people need before they can see that two colors are not the same. This color difference model provides a marked improvement over the Euclidean distance ΔEab*, but is only applicable for large regions obeying a specific geometry.
Due to the optics of the eye, the spacing of the receptors and the wiring of neural pathways leading to the brain, we can see fine detail best when it differs from the background in lightness. If there is no lightness variation, we can see detail better if it differs in redness (or greenness). Specifically, it is very hard to see fine detail in blue-yellow variation. Zhang and Wandell "A spatial extension of CIELab for digital color image reproduction", SID 96 describes a method of finding the visual difference between two images by first converting the images into an opponent color space, and then filtering the lightness channel, the red-green channel, and the blue-yellow channel each by different filters. The lightness is blurred least, and the blue-yellow channel the most, by these filters. In their paper, the resulting images are converted to CIEL*a*b* after blurring, and then the image difference is an image consisting of, at each pixel, ΔEab*, taken between corresponding pixels of the (filtered) two original images. Zhang and Wandell name this metric S-CIELab. An improvement over S-CIELab is to use the CIE94 color difference metric in the place of ΔEab*, otherwise leaving S-CIELab unchanged.
Note that one can compare any two images. In particular, if one wishes to know whether a line induced by misregistration would be visible, one could compare an image with the line to one without the line. If the pixel with the largest error in the difference image has an error above. some threshold, the line is visible.
The above patents and references and particularly U.S. Pat. No. 5,313,570 to Dermer, et al. and U.S. Pat. No. 5,668,931 to Dermer are hereby incorporated by reference for their teachings.

System and method of trapping for correcting for separation misregistration in color printing


A waveguide-type optical isolator, which has: an optical waveguide which is formed a semiconductor material that absorbs only light with a specified wavelength; a pair of electrodes which are formed on the upper and lower surfaces of the optical waveguide; means for injecting a traveling-wave voltage pulse into the pair of electrodes; and an electric circuit which is connected with the pair of electrodes, wherein the electric circuit satisfies an impedance matching condition at a terminal of the optical waveguide; wherein the traveling-wave voltage pulse allows a non-absorption or amplfying region which travels with the traveling-wave voltage pulse to be formed in the optical waveguide.

Semiconductor lasers are widely used as a light source for ultra-high speed and long-distance optical communications. However, in conventional semiconductor lasers, there is a problem that, due to a very little light reflecting back from an optical fiber, noises occur in the semiconductor laser. Therefore, an optical isolator is indispensable for removing the light reflected back into the semiconductor laser. In general, the optical isolator is composed of a magneto-optic crystal with the Faraday effect and two optical polarizers which sandwich the magneto-optic crystal therebetween and whose polarization directions in transmission are shifted by 45.degree.. In addition, such an optical isolator is composed of at least four components including a magnet.
However, since the conventional optical isolator has the complicated composition and requires many steps for processing materials and fabricating those components, it is costly and may be short of reliability or stability. Furthermore, it is impossible for the conventional optical isolator to be monolithically integrated with the semiconductor laser.

Waveguide-type optical isolator and method for making the same


According to one embodiment, a method is provided for calculating, by an activity monitor comprising one accelerometer, a raw activity energy expenditure data based on movement by a user. The method includes determining if the raw activity energy expenditure data is associated with a high intensity physical activity, wherein the high intensity physical activity causes the raw activity energy expenditure data to differ from an expected activity energy expenditure data. The method includes calculating a corrected activity energy expenditure data, if the raw activity energy expenditure data is associated with the high intensity physical activity, based on the raw activity energy expenditure data, wherein the corrected activity energy expenditure data is substantially identical to the expected activity energy expenditure data.

An activity monitor allows the measurement of human energy expenditure. The activity monitor allows the user wearing the activity monitor to measure the amount of energy consumed during a selected period of time for a certain physical activity, such as walking and running. An activity monitor utilizing a single accelerometer is less expensive and consumes less power than an activity monitor utilizing a plurality of accelerometers. A single accelerometer may be a uni-axial accelerometer that generates a signal, which is proportional to the energy expenditure, such that the signal is generated in response to body movements in the particular direction along the single axis of the accelerometer.
When user is performing a low intensity physical activity, such as walking, the dominant direction of body movement is the up and down direction occurring along the vertical axis. If the accelerometer is properly aligned with the body movement of user to measure movements along the vertical axis, the activity monitor will provide a signal, which is a relatively accurate representation of the energy expenditure by the user. However, when user is performing a high intensity physical activity, such as running, the forward and backward movement of the body provides an additional, non-negligible contribution to energy expended by the user. In response to the backward and forward movement occurring along the horizontal axis during high intensity physical activity, the accelerometer will provide a signal, which is an inaccurate representation of the actual energy expenditure by the user because the accelerometer primarily measures movements along the vertical axis. Therefore, the energy expenditure measured by the uni-axial accelerometer in the activity monitor will deviate from the real energy expenditure of the user. One way to solve this problem for accurately measuring energy expended requires using an additional accelerometer, which can measure forward and backward body movement along the horizontal axis. However, this additional sensor will increase the cost of the activity monitor, and the amount of power consumed by the activity monitor.
Additionally, an activity monitor with only one sensor, such as a uni-axial accelerometer, does not include hardware operable to calculate the speed of a user while the user is walking or running. One way to solve this problem for determining the speed of the user requires using an additional sensor for tracking speed, such as an accelerometer worn on the foot or shoe, a switch on the sole of the shoe, or a GPS sensor. However, this additional sensor will increase the cost of the activity monitor, and the amount of power consumed by the activity monitor.

System and method for processing raw activity energy expenditure data


When a killer ratio resulting from a specified defect is calculated from die research data including the number of defects and manufacturing result pass/fail for each of a plurality of dies, the die research data is classified based on the number of the specified defects present on a die to calculate a killer ratio for each of a plurality of the classified groups, from which a killer ratio in the case of one specified defect is calculated for each of the groups. The killer ratio for each of the groups is weighted in accordance with the number of the specified defects to calculate one killer ratio as the average value of the weighted killer ratios, thereby calculating one killer ratio which reflects the effect of the number of the specified defects present on a die.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a data processing method and apparatus for calculating a killer ratio resulting from a specified defect, and an information storage medium for storing programs as software which cause a computer to execute various processing operations.
2. Description of the Related Art
Currently, IC (Integrated Circuit) chips are generally mass-produced by dividing a single semiconductor wafer into a plurality of dies and then manufacturing integrated circuits of the same structure on the respective dies. Various approaches for improving the yields of such mass-produced IC chips are also studied, and for example, the calculation of a killer ratio is performed based on past die research data and yield data.
The killer ratio refers to an expected value of the probability that, when a defect of one type is specified, the specified defect present on a die results in a defective IC chip manufactured from the die. For example, when one die and a defect of one type are specified, the specified defect present on the specified die does not necessarily cause the specified die to be defective. Also, even when the specified defect is not present on the specified die, the specified die may become defective due to another type of defect.
The die research data includes, for example, defect presence/absence data for indicating the presence or absence of defects for each type and result pass/fail data for indicating whether a manufacturing result is favorable or unfavorable, for each die identification data which identifies a plurality of dies. The die research data is registered for each of a plurality of manufacturing steps which are performed on a single wafer.
The aforementioned defect presence/absence data is collected from a plurality of dies for each of a plurality of manufacturing steps when a semiconductor wafer is divided into a plurality of dies to mass-produce a plurality of IC chips through various manufacturing steps, while the result pass/fail data is collected by performing a final test of each of a plurality of finished IC chips.
It should be noted that while a plurality of sets of die research data in a single manufacturing step of a single semiconductor wafer are herein referred as an example as mentioned above for simplifying description, a number of sets of die research data for a plurality of manufacturing steps of a single semiconductor wafer are generally collected and accumulated corresponding to a plurality of semiconductor wafers of a lot, and a number of sets of die research data for each lot is collected and accumulated corresponding to a plurality of lots.
As shown in FIG. 1(a), when a defect of one type is specified, die research data of a plurality of dies from a single semiconductor wafer is classified into four: xe2x80x9cspecified defect present and manufacturing result favorablexe2x80x9d; xe2x80x9cspecified defect present and manufacturing result unfavorablexe2x80x9d; xe2x80x9cspecified defect absent and manufacturing result favorablexe2x80x9d; and xe2x80x9cspecified defect absent and manufacturing result unfavorablexe2x80x9d, as shown in FIG. 1(b).
In this case, assuming that the total number of dies with the specified defect present thereon is Txe2x80x2, and the number of dies with the specified defect present thereon and a favorable manufacturing result is TGxe2x80x2, then a killer ratio KR is given by:
KR=(the number of dies with the specified defect and an unfavorable manufacturing result)/(the total number of dies with the specified defect)=1xe2x88x92(the number of dies with the specified defect and a favorable manufacturing result)/(the total number of dies with the specified defect)=1xe2x88x92TGxe2x80x2/Txe2x80x2xe2x80x83xe2x80x83(1)
The calculation of the killer ratio with one of a plurality of types of defects being specified as mentioned above can predict the ratio at which a finished IC chip manufactured from a die becomes defective when the specified defect is present on the die. However, the aforementioned calculation method of the killer ratio does not consider a defective IC chip due to unspecified defects, resulting in unsatisfactory calculation accuracy of the killer ratio.
Thus, a calculation method has been proposed for improving the accuracy of the killer ratio by considering the effects of unspecified defects. The method assumes that all types of defects are randomly distributed over the entire region of a semiconductor wafer and a die has the specified defect and another kind of defect mixed thereon.
A survival rate (a ratio at which its manufacturing result is favorable) is detected for dies with no specified defect and is used as xe2x80x9ca baseline yieldxe2x80x9d which is a survival rate of unspecified defects. Assuming that the total number of dies is T and the number of dies with a favorable manufacturing result is TG, then the baseline yield Yb is given by:
xe2x80x83Yb=(TGxe2x88x92TGxe2x80x2)/(Txe2x88x92Txe2x80x2)xe2x80x83xe2x80x83(2)
When the aforementioned equation (1) is corrected by the above equation (2), the effects of types of defects other can be eliminated from the killer ratio of dies with the specified defect. The killer ratio KRM in this case is given by:
KRM=1xe2x88x92(TGxe2x88x92Txe2x80x2)/Yb=1xe2x88x92[TGxe2x80x2(Txe2x88x92Txe2x80x2)]/[Txe2x80x2(TGxe2x88x92TGxe2x80x2)]xe2x80x83xe2x80x83(3)
The aforementioned calculation method of the killer ratio resulting from a specified defect has satisfactory accuracy since it can eliminate the effects of unspecified other kinds of defects. However, even with the aforementioned calculation method of the killer ratio, the number of the specified defects present on a single die is not taken into account, thereby reducing the accuracy of the killer ratio calculation due to differences in the number.
The present invention has been made in view of the aforementioned problems, and it is an object thereof to provide a data processing method and apparatus capable of calculating a killer ratio with more satisfactory accuracy than that in the prior art, and an information storage medium for storing programs as software which cause a computer to execute processing operations of the data processing method of the present invention.
According to a first aspect of the present invention, the data processing apparatus comprises data storing means for previously registering die research data which includes at least the number of defects for each type and manufacturing result pass/fail for each of a plurality of dies divided from a single wafer, data input means for receiving type selecting data for selecting a specified defect which is a defect of one type, data retrieving means for retrieving the die research data corresponding to the specified defect from the data storing means with the type selecting data input to the data input means, data classifying means for classifying the die research data retrieved by the data retrieving means based on the number of the specified defects present on a die, and first calculating means for calculating a killer ratio for each of a plurality of groups of die research data classified by the data classifying means.
Therefore, in the data processing method with the data processing apparatus of the present invention, the die research data including at least the number of defects for each type and manufacturing result pass/fail for each of a plurality of dies divided from a single wafer is previously registered in the data storing means. In such a state, when the type selecting data for selecting a specified defect which is a defect of one type is input to the data input means, the data retrieving means retrieves the die research data corresponding to the specified defect from the data storing means with the input type selecting data. The data classifying means classifies the retrieved die research data based on the number of the specified defects present on a die, and the first calculating means calculates the killer ratio for each of a plurality of groups of the classified die research data. The killer ratios for the plurality of groups thus calculated are provided for the respective groups classified based on the number of the specified defects present on a die.
The data processing apparatus as described above may comprise second calculating means for calculating a killer ratio in the case of one specified defect for each of the groups from the killer ratio for each of the groups calculated by the first calculating means. In this case, since the second calculating means calculates a killer ratio in the case of one specified defect for each of the groups from the killer ratio for each of the groups calculated by the first calculating means, a killer ratio when a plurality of specified defects present on a die are assumed to be one is calculated.
The data processing apparatus as described above may comprise third calculating means for calculating one killer ratio as the average value of the killer ratios for the groups calculated by the second calculating means. In this case, since the third calculating means calculates one killer ratio as the average value of the killer ratios for the groups calculated by the second calculating means, one killer ratio which reflects the effect of the number of the specified defects present on a die is calculated.
In the data processing apparatus as described above, the third calculating means may weight the killer ratio for each of the groups in accordance with the number of the specified defects when it calculates the one killer ratio as the average value. In this case, since the third calculating means calculates one killer ratio by weighting the killer ratio for each of the groups in accordance with the number of the specified defects, the effect of the number of the specified defects present on a die is appropriately reflected in the calculation result of the killer ratio.
In the data processing apparatus as described above, the third calculating means may assign a heavier weight to a killer ratio in a group with a larger number of the specified defects. In this case, since the third calculating means assigns a heavier weight to a killer ratio in a group with a larger number of the specified defects, the effect of the number of the specified defects present on a die is more appropriately reflected in the calculation result of the killer ratio.
In the data processing apparatus as described above, the third calculating means may weight the killer ratio in accordance with the ratio of the total number of the specified defects present on a single wafer to the total number of the specified defects for each of the groups. In this case, the third calculating means weights the killer ratio in accordance with the ratio of the total number of the specified defects present on a single wafer to the total number of the specified defects for each of the groups, the effect of the number of the specified defects present on a die is more appropriately reflected in the calculation result of the killer ratio.
The data processing apparatus as described above may comprise data extracting means for extracting dies with no specified defect from the die research data retrieved by the data retrieving means, correction generating means for generating corrected data which reflects the effects of types of defects other than the specified defect from the die research data extracted by the data extracting means, and result correcting means for correcting the killer ratio with the corrected data generated by the correction generating means.
In this case, the data extracting means extracts die with no specified defect from the die research data retrieved by the data retrieving means, and the correction generating means generates corrected data which reflects the effects of types of defects other than the specified defect from the extracted die research data. The result correcting means corrects the killer ratio with the generated corrected data, thereby eliminating the effects of kinds of defects other than the specified defect from the killer ratio which reflects the effect of the number of the specified defects present on a die.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, the data processing apparatus comprises data storing means for previously registering die research data which includes at least the number of defects for each type and manufacturing result pass/fail for each of a plurality of dies divided from a single wafer, data input means for receiving type selecting data for selecting a specified defect which is a defect of one type, data retrieving means for retrieving the die research data corresponding to the specified defect from the data storing means with the type selecting data input to the data input means, data classifying means for classifying the die research data retrieved by the data retrieving means based on the number of the specified defects present on a die, and killer ratio calculating means for detecting, from a plurality of groups of the die research data classified by the data classifying means, the number of dies Ti with i specified defects, the number of dies TGi with i specified defects and a favorable manufacturing result, and the total number of specified defects Nxe2x80x2 present in the wafer, and calculating a killer ratio KRxe2x80x2 resulting from the specified defect as follows;
KRxe2x80x2=xcexa3(Tixc2x7i/Nxe2x80x2){1xe2x88x92[TGi/Ti]1/i}
Therefore, in the data processing method with the data processing apparatus of the present invention, the die research data including at least the number of defects for each type and manufacturing result pass/fail for each of a plurality of dies divided from a single wafer is previously registered in the data storing means. In such a state, when the type selecting data for selecting a specified defect which is a defect of one type is input to the data input means, the data retrieving means retrieves the die research data corresponding to the specified defect from the data storing means with the input type selecting data. The killer ratio calculating means detects, from the retrieved die research data, the number of dies Ti with i specified defects, the number of dies TGi with i specified defects and a favorable manufacturing result, and the total number of specified defects Nxe2x80x2 present in the wafer, and calculates a killer ratio KRxe2x80x2 resulting from the specified defect as KRxe2x80x2=xcexa3(Tixc2x7i/Nxe2x80x2){1xe2x88x92[TGi/Ti]1/i}. Thus, one killer ratio which reflects the effect of the number of the specified defects present on a die is calculated.
According to a third aspect of the present invention, the data processing apparatus comprises data storing means for previously registering die research data which includes at least the number of defects for each type and manufacturing result pass/fail for each of a plurality of dies divided from a single wafer, data input means for receiving type selecting data for selecting a specified defect which is a defect of one type, data retrieving means for retrieving the die research data corresponding to the specified defect from the data storing means with the type selecting data input to the data input means, data classifying means for classifying the die research data retrieved by the data retrieving means based on the number of the specified defects present on a die, and killer ratio calculating means for detecting, from a plurality of groups of the die research data classified by the data classifying means, the total number of dies T present in the wafer, the number of dies Txe2x80x2 with the specified defect, the number of dies TG with a favorable manufacturing result, the number of dies TGxe2x80x2 with the specified defect and a favorable manufacturing result, the number of dies Ti with i specified defects, the number of dies TGi with i specified defects and a favorable manufacturing result, and the total number of specified defects Nxe2x80x2 present in the wafer, and calculating a killer ratio KR1xe2x80x2 resulting from the specified defect as follows:
KR1xe2x80x2=xcexa3(Tixc2x7i/Nxe2x80x2){1xe2x88x92[(TGi(Txe2x88x92Txe2x80x2))/(Ti(TGxe2x88x92TGxe2x80x2))]1/i}
Therefore, in the data processing method with the data processing apparatus of the present invention, the die research data including at least the number of defects for each type and manufacturing result pass/fail for each of a plurality of dies divided from a single wafer is previously registered in the data storing means. In such a state, when the type selecting data for selecting a specified defect which is a defect of one type is input to the data input means, the data retrieving means retrieves the die research data corresponding to the specified defect from the data storing means with the input type selecting data. The killer ratio calculating means detects, from the retrieved die research data, the total number of dies T present in the wafer, the number of dies Txe2x80x2 with the specified defect, the number of dies TG with a favorable manufacturing result, the number of dies TGxe2x80x2 with the specified defect and a favorable manufacturing result, the number of dies Ti with i specified defects, the number of dies TGi with i specified defects and a favorable manufacturing result, and the total number of specified defects Nxe2x80x2 present in the wafer, and calculates a killer ratio KR1xe2x80x2 resulting from the specified defect as KR1xe2x80x2=xcexa3(Tixc2x7i/Nxe2x80x2){1xe2x88x92[(TGi(Txe2x88x92Txe2x80x2))/(Ti(TGxe2x88x92TGxe2x80x2))]1/i}. Thus, one killer ratio which reflects the effect of the number of the specified defects present on a die is calculated with the effects of kinds of defects other than the specified defect being eliminated.
It should be noted that various means in the present invention may be any which is formed to realize their functions, and allow dedicated hardware for generating a predetermined function, a computer provided with a predetermined function by means of programs, a predetermined function realized in the computer with programs, a combination thereof, or the like.
For example, the data storing means may be any which stores various registered data, and allows a storage area of an information storage means such as RAM (Random Access Memory), for example. The data input means may be any which receives various data input thereto, and allows a keyboard which receives data input through manual operations, a communication I/F (Interface) which receives data input through signal reception, and a drive device which retrieves recorded data from an information storage medium such as FD (Floppy Disc), CD (Compact Disc)-ROM (Read Only Memory) or the like.
According to a first aspect of the present invention, the information storage medium stores software readable by a computer as programs which causes the computer to execute: storing die research data including at least the number of defects for each type and manufacturing result pass/fail for each of a plurality of dies divided from a single wafer; receiving type selecting data for selecting a specified defect which is a defect of one type; retrieving the die research data corresponding to the specified defect with the input type selecting data; classifying the retrieved die research data based on the number of the specified defects present on a die; calculating a killer ratio for each of a plurality of groups of the classified die research data; calculating a killer ratio in the case of one specified defect for each of the groups from the calculated killer ratio for each of the groups; weighting the calculated killer ratio for each of the groups in accordance with the number of the specified defects; and calculating one killer ratio as the average value of the weighted killer ratios for the groups.
Therefore, when a computer reads the programs stored in the information storage medium of the present invention to perform corresponding processing operations, the computer stores die research data including at least the number of defects for each type and manufacturing result pass/fail for each of a plurality of dies divided from a single wafer, and, in this state, receives input type selecting data for selecting a specified defect which is a defect of one type. The die research data corresponding to the specified defect is retrieved with the input type selecting data, and the retrieved die research data is classified based on the number of the specified defects present on a die. A killer ratio is calculated for each of a plurality of groups of the classified die research data, and a killer ratio in the case of one specified defect is calculated for each of the groups from the calculated killer ratio for each of the groups. The calculated killer ratio for each of the groups is weighted in accordance with the number of the specified defects, and one killer ratio is calculated as the average value of the weighted killer ratios for the groups, thereby calculating one killer ratio which reflects the effect of the number of the specified defects present on a die.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, the information storage medium stores software readable by a computer as programs which causes the computer to execute: storing die research data including at least the number of defects for each type and manufacturing result pass/fail for each of a plurality of dies divided from a single wafer; receiving type selecting data for selecting a specified defect which is a defect of one type; retrieving the die research data corresponding to the specified defect with the input type selecting data; classifying the retrieved die research data based on the number of the specified defects present on a die; detecting, from the classified die research data, the number of dies Ti with i specified defects, the number of dies TGi with i specified defects and a favorable manufacturing result, and the total number of specified defects Nxe2x80x2 present in the wafer; and calculating a killer ratio KRxe2x80x2 resulting from the specified defect as KRxe2x80x2=xcexa3(Tixc2x7i/Nxe2x80x2){1xe2x88x92[TGi/Ti]1/i}.
Therefore, when a computer reads the programs stored in the information storage medium of the present invention to perform corresponding processing operations, the computer stores die research data including at least the number of defects for each type and manufacturing result pass/fail for each of a plurality of dies divided from a single wafer, and, in this state, receives input type selecting data for selecting a specified defect which is a defect of one type. The die research data corresponding to the specified defect is retrieved with the input type selecting data, and the retrieved die research data is classified based on the number of the specified defects present on a die. From the classified die research data, the number of dies Ti with i specified defects, the number of dies TGi with i specified defects and a favorable manufacturing result, and the total number of specified defects Nxe2x80x2 present in the wafer are detected, and a killer ratio KRxe2x80x2 resulting from the specified defect is calculated as KRxe2x80x2=xcexa3(Tixc2x7i/Nxe2x80x2){1xe2x88x92[TGi/Ti]1/i}. Thus, one killer ratio which reflects the effect of the number of the specified defects present on a die is calculated.
According to a third aspect of the present invention, the information storage medium stores software readable by a computer as programs which causes the computer to execute: storing die research data including at least the number of defects for each type and manufacturing result pass/fail for each of a plurality of dies divided from a single wafer; receiving type selecting data for selecting a specified defect which is a defect of one type; retrieving the die research data corresponding to the specified defect with the input type selecting data; classifying the retrieved die research data based on the number of the specified defects present on a die; detecting, from the classified die research data, total number of dies T present in the wafer, the number of dies Txe2x80x2 with the specified defect, the number of dies TG with a favorable manufacturing result, the number of dies TGxe2x80x2 with the specified defect and a favorable manufacturing result, the number of dies Ti with i specified defects, the number of dies TGi with i specified defects and a favorable manufacturing result, and the total number of specified defects Nxe2x80x2 present in the wafer; and calculating a killer ratio KR1xe2x80x2 resulting from the specified defect as KR1xe2x80x2=xcexa3(Tixc2x7i/Nxe2x80x2){1xe2x88x92[(TGi(Txe2x88x92Txe2x80x2))/(Ti(TGxe2x88x92TGxe2x80x2))]1/i}.
Therefore, when a computer reads the programs stored in the information storage medium of the present invention to perform corresponding processing operations, the computer stores die research data including at least the number of defects for each type and manufacturing result pass/fail for each of a plurality of dies divided from a single wafer, and, in this state, receives input type selecting data for selecting a specified defect which is a defect of one type. The die research data corresponding to the specified defect is retrieved with the input type selecting data, and the retrieved die research data is classified based on the number of the specified defects present on a die. From the classified die research data, the total number of dies T present in the wafer, the number of dies Txe2x80x2 with the specified defect, the number of dies TG with a favorable manufacturing result, the number of dies TGxe2x80x2 with the specified defect and a favorable manufacturing result, the number of dies Ti with i specified defects, the number of dies TGi with i specified defects and a favorable manufacturing result, and the total number of specified defects Nxe2x80x2 present in the wafer are detected, and a killer ratio KR1xe2x80x2 resulting from the specified defect is calculated as KR1xe2x80x2=xcexa3(Tixc2x7i/Nxe2x80x2){1xe2x88x92[(TGi(Txe2x88x92Txe2x80x2))/(Ti(TGxe2x88x92TGxe2x80x2))]1/i}. Thus, one killer ratio which reflects the effect of the number of the specified defects present on a die is calculated with the effects of kinds of defects other than the specified defect being eliminated.
It should be noted that the information storage medium in the present invention may be any which previously stores programs for causing the computer to execute various processing as software, and for example, an ROM or HDD (Hard Disc Drive) fixed in an apparatus having a computer as a part thereof, and CD (Compact Disc)-ROM (Read Only Memory) or FD which is removably loaded in an apparatus having a computer as a part thereof are allowed.
The computer in the present invention may be any which can read programs comprising software to execute corresponding processing operations, and for example, an apparatus having a CPU (Central Processing Unit) as a main portion to which various devices such as ROMs, RAMs or I/Fs are connected as required is allowed.
The execution of various operations by the computer corresponding to software in the present invention contemplates that the computer controls the operations of various devices. For example, the data storage by the computer contemplates that the computer stores various data in an information storage medium such as RAM previously connected thereto, that the computer stores various data in an internal memory included therein, or that the computer stores various data in an FD when the FD is used as the information storage medium in the present invention.

Data processing method and apparatus to determine killer ratio based on a variety of defect types


This disclosure concerns a method of manufacturing a semiconductor memory device comprising forming a plurality of trenches in a semiconductor substrate; forming a semiconductor layer provided on a cavity by connecting lower spaces of the trenches to one another and closing upper openings of the trenches in a heat treatment under a hydrogen atmosphere; etching the semiconductor layer in an isolation formation area; forming an insulating film on a side surface and a bottom surface of the semiconductor layer; filling the cavity under the semiconductor layer with an electrode material; and forming a memory element on the semiconductor layer.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor memory device and a method of manufacturing a semiconductor memory device.
2. Related Art
Development of an FBC (Floating Body Cell) memory device that stores data in each FBC according to the number of a plurality of carries accumulated in a floating body of the FBC has been underway in place of a DRAM (Dynamic Random Access Memory) comprised of 1T (Transistor)-1C (Capacitor) type memory cells (Patent document 1). The FBC can dispense with the capacitor essential to an ordinary DRAM cell, so that the memory cell structure of the FBC memory device is simpler than that of the DRAM cell. The FBC is, therefore, advantageously easier to manufacture than the DRAM cell.
Generally, the FBC is constituted by a MISFET (Metal Insulator Semiconductor Field Effect Transistor) formed on an SOI (Silicon On Insulator) substrate. The SOI substrate is more expensive than an ordinary bulk-silicon substrate. Due to this, the manufacturing cost of the FBC is disadvantageously higher than the DRAM cell. Furthermore, design environment (e.g., SPICE MODEL) used for forming an LSI circuit on the bulk substrate cannot be applied to the SOI substrate as it is. Therefore, it is disadvantageously necessary to change the design environment to be suited for the SOI substrate in an LSI region other than a memory region. Moreover, high breakdown-voltage transistor characteristics and ESD (Electrostatic Discharge) characteristics of an input/output circuit or the like are often, disadvantageously deteriorated in the LSI region other than the memory region.

Semiconductor memory device having a floating body and a plate electrode