A method to coordinate network components is proposed. At least one first logical component and at least one second logical component are provided. Each of the components corresponds to a specific application and communicate with each other via a network on a communication plane that is substantially independent from an application plane. According to the method, a communications connection is established between the at least one first logical component and the at least one second logical component at the initiative of one of the at least one first logical component and the at least one second logical component, functioning in response to a specific event that concerns at least one of the at least one first logical component and the at least one second logical component. Moreover, an information message is transmitted via the established communications connection from the at least one second logical component to the at least one first logical component, the information message including at least information with respect to a current application status of the at least one second logical component. In addition, the information of the transmitted information message in the at least one first logical component is compared with corresponding information stored in a nonvolatile memory.

European Published Patent Application No. 0 399 491 further describes the establishment of a communications connection between the first logical component and the second logical component, and the transmission of an information message across the established communications connection from the second logical component to the first logical component. The information message contains information regarding the current application status of the second logical component, as well as a comparison of the information of the transmitted information in the first logical component with corresponding information available at the first logical component.
The present invention can be applied in wide areas of communications technology, but it is explained in greater detail, by way of example, only in relation to a CAN network system for use in the automotive area.
In systems of this type installed in a motor vehicle, there often arises the situation that only individual components of the network system carry out a restart, i.e. reset, in response to a failure or fault. A typical trigger for a reset of this type is the detection of an undervoltage condition, which can vary from component to component.
From this arises the fundamental problem to define specific communications mechanisms between the components, in order to achieve a restarting of the distributed applications as rapidly as possible. In this context, it is generally advantageous to reproduce to reproduce or coordinate the state of the entire system before the reset. This is of particular significance for systems that have user interaction, for example via a display and operating element, in order to minimize the disturbances triggered by resets during operation, such as images on a display that are no longer current, delays in the servicing of components, lost inputs, etc.
The problem underlying the present invention thus generally lies, in a network having distributed applications, in effectively coordinating the network components, corresponding to applications. This applies specifically to a restart after a failure in individual components.
In general, the following four cases must be detected and treated appropriately.
i) "Normal" start-up of all components (system start).
ii) Simultaneous failure in all components after systems start, e.g., as a result of an undervoltage for all components in the network.
iii) The failure in a partial system after system start, i.e., a failure condition in one or a plurality of components.
iv) A hardware reset after a first power-on or fatal failure.
First, the specific problem of a reciprocal coordination or synchronization of distributed applications and the logical components that correspond to the latter will be explained in greater detail.
In systems in which components communicate with each other via a network, for example, a bus system, a specific basic prerequisite for the method described here is a separation of communication and application within one component (see ISO 7490, Information Processing Systems—Open Systems Interconnection Basic Reference Model, 1984).
At issue here are systems that communicate via a network, e.g., a bus system, communication and application being defined as follows.
Communication denotes all functions that are required for the purpose of reliable data exchange with other components. Typically, a stratification is used that is derived from the OSI model of the ISO (see above), i.e., the conversion from the physical layer to the application interface. For in the current approaches in the automotive area, only one subset of the OSI model is used, adjusted to the requirements of this application area, i.e., some layers remain "empty." Furthermore, as an expansion of the OSI model, a network management that includes the different layers is usually used, synchronizing the different components with respect to communication.
Application denotes the specific task of each component, e.g., the functionality of the CD player or the various functions of a car telephone.
In systems having at their disposal logical point-to-point (1:1) connections between the individual components, the "commands" of the application of a component A are relayed to component B via a connection of this type, component B then responding, e.g., with an application acknowledgment. An example is the activation, using an operating element, of a CD changer to play.
Advantageously, these 1:1 connections of the application plane are reproduced in the 1:1 connections of the transport layer (layer 4 in the OSI model). While the 1:1 transport connections can be set up or, in the case of failure, reset by both participating components, which corresponds to a symmetrical method, this does not apply to the application plane. Here, for example, only one component A—the "master"—is entitled to control one component B—the "slave." This is especially true for switching the main states of the slave, for example, "on" and "off."
Advantageously, a system of this type is based on network management, which also distinguishes between master and slave functionality. In this case, an "application master" is usually also simultaneously a "network management master." In addition, however, systems are possible that, in network management, recognize only equal-access stations, in which therefore the master/slave distinction is limited to the application plane. A typical example for the latter network management method is "decentralized network management," on CAN networks in the chassis area of the automotive industry.
Unless otherwise expressly stated, in what follows the designations "master" and "slave" always apply to the application plane.
Therefore, a relatively simple system is composed of one master and at least one slave, employing in each case a 1:1 connection between master and each slave. Of course, more complex systems can be constructed, that are composed of a plurality of master components having the same or even different slaves. In this context, however, the assumption is that for every logical connection, it is unambiguously established, which component is the master and which component is the slave. In this manner, a hierarchical system can then be formed out of master, sub master(s), and slaves, as is described in German Published Patent Application No. 196 373 12.
Usually, the master is largely responsible for the coordination of network-wide applications. For the slave, it is sufficient to detect the reset of the master, for example, via a network management service.
For the slave, this leads, for example, to the initiation of certain emergency functions or to an autonomous shutdown.
The master detects the reset of the slave component either through a cyclic querying of the slave status or through a fresh communication set up, initiated by the slave (e.g., a communication system having network management and a transport protocol in accordance with the prior applications, German Published Patent Application No. 41 31 133 or German Published Patent Application No. 196 373 12).
The above-mentioned approach is disadvantageous because the cyclic querying of the slave status by the master is cumbersome and communications-intensive, since usually no change of status is present. Furthermore, this querying mechanism is inflexible, since generally only components are queried that have already been installed.
Finally, a fresh communication setup by the slave, as an alternative to the above cyclic querying mechanism, brings with it the disadvantage that, except for the information that the communication has again been established, the master receives no messages concerning the cause of the reset and/or its prehistory, i.e., by way of example, the previous application status.
The type of local reset can be detected by the master, e.g., through the entry of local status information into a non-volatile memory, such as an EEPROM, and through evaluation of the entry at a subsequent restart.
If, after a reset, the master, for example, discovers the entry, "system started and in normal operation," then it can infer a restart as a result of a failure condition. On the other hand, if "system is shut down" is entered, then it is a question of a normal startup. In the case of a failure, the problem is the limited memory possibilities in the master.
In general, only the local status can be saved, since, for the status storage of all connected slaves, the time and/or the memory capacity is usually not sufficient. In addition, in the event of a failure-reset of the master, having recourse to status information concerning the slave stored, for example, in an EEPROM is risky, since the slave could also have carried out a reset and thus the stored slave state deviates from the current state.
Since, in the above standard approaches, no detailed and stored status information concerning the slave is available, the master will generally restart or initialize the slave application.
Since, as a result, the previous settings generally must be reset, this signifies the loss of knowledge concerning the prehistory of the slave, i.e., the original operating state or status of the application can no longer be derived. Noticeable delays generally result from the restart of the slave application.

Method for coordinating network components


A system and method for identifying and isolating faults in a video on demand (VOD) provisioning system. Transaction errors statistics are used to determine whether a fault has occurred in the VOD provisioning system. A high transaction error rate is associated with transaction error rates in components of the VOD provisioning system permitting identification of a likely cause of a high transaction error rate. Remedial action to repair the cause of the system fault is then directed to the likely cause of the high transaction error rate.

Embodiments of the present invention are directed generally to cable network fault isolation and more specifically to the identification of faults in devices comprising a video on demand service in a hybrid fiber coax (HFC) cable network.
Cable networks deliver voice, data, and video to subscribers over a complex network of headends, regional data centers, hubs, and nodes. At the upstream terminus of the network is the headend and regional data center. Typically, a headend comprises the analog and digital video signal processors, video on demand systems, and other video content management devices. A regional data center comprises digital service management devices (e-mail servers, DNS, and Internet connectivity) and routers that interconnect the regional data center with a headend. A hub receives the video and data signals from the headend and regional data center, processes these signals through appropriate modulators, and sends these signals downstream to a hub. The hub provides the signals to a node that is ultimately associated with individual subscribers. A node provides an interface between the fiber-based component of the HFC cable network and the RF/cable component of the network that is the transport media to the home.
In a commercial network, a headend may service multiple hubs and a hub may service multiple nodes. A regional data center may provide digital services to multiple headends. From a node to the home, the RF/cable component of the HFC cable network may branch numerous times. Amplifiers, line extenders, and passive devices are employed to maintain signal quality across all branches (or "cascades") serviced by the node.
HFC cable networks are increasingly dependent on two-way data transport. Video on-demand or VOD services rely on out-of-band (OOB) channel signaling or a DOCSIS-compliant data channel to obtain requests for video content from a subscriber's set top box. In a typical configuration, the VOD service makes available to its users a selection of multiple video programs that they can choose from and watch over a network connection with minimum setup delay. At a high level, a VOD system consists of one or more VOD application servers that pass and/or store the relevant content; one or more network connections that are used for program selection and program delivery; and customer premises equipment (CPE) to receive, decode and present the video on a display unit.
The most common CPE for VOD is an addressable STB that provides the functions of receiving cable signals by tuning to the appropriate RF channel, processing the received signal and outputting VOD signals for viewing on a display unit. Such an STB also typically hosts a VOD application that enables user interaction for navigation and selection of a VOD menu.
FIG. 1 illustrates a video-on-demand provision system as known in the prior art. The various components of the network 100 include (i) one or more data and application origination points 102; (ii) one or more application distribution servers 104; (iii) one or more VOD application servers 105, and (iv) customer premises equipment (CPE) 106. The distribution server(s) 104, VOD application servers 105 and CPE(s) 106 are connected via HFC cable network 101.
The application origination point 102 comprises any medium that allows an application (such as a data download application or VOD-based application) to be transferred to a distribution server 104. This can include for example an application vendor website, CD-ROM, external network interface, mass storage device (e.g., RAID system), etc. Such transference may be automatic, initiated upon the occurrence of one or more specified events (such as the receipt of a request packet or ACK), performed manually, or accomplished in any number of other modes readily recognized by those of ordinary skill in the art.
The application distribution server 104 comprises a computer system where such applications can enter the network system. Distribution servers are well known in the networking arts, and accordingly are not described further herein.
The VOD application server 105 is a computer system where on-demand content can be received from one or more data sources 102 and enter the network system. These sources may generate the content/data locally, or alternatively act as a gateway or intermediary from a distant source. The VOD application server 105 includes the Session Resource Manager (SRM) functionality, and asks the network control system (NCS) for resources. The NCS responds with a negative or positive response to the request, and the VOD application server implements the appropriate resource allocation logic.
In U. S. cable systems, downstream RF channels used for transmission of television programs are 6 MHz wide, and occupy a 6 MHz spectral slot between 54 MHz and 860 MHz. Deployments of VOD services have to share this spectrum with already established analog and digital cable television services. For this reason, the exact RF channel used for VOD service may differ from plant to plant. However, within a given cable plant, all homes that are electrically connected to the same cable feed running through a neighborhood will receive the same downstream signal. For the purpose of managing VOD services, these homes are grouped into logical groups typically called service groups. Homes belonging to the same service group receive their VOD service on the same set of RF channels.
Several specific frameworks exist in the prior art for provisioning on-demand (e.g., VOD) and similar services to network subscribers. Notably, in the cable network context, the Interactive Services Architecture (ISA) specification (see, e.g., ISA Versions 1.4 and 1.5) published by the Time Warner Cable describes techniques and mechanisms for distributing and delivering movie titles for VOD services. The ISA specification defines functional roles and interfaces that enable the development of pluggable interactive services in a cable environment. The focus of the ISA is primarily on viewer services, which are defined as the set of functions provided by the cable operator to its customers.
Content (e.g., audio, video, etc.) is provided in each downstream (in-band) channel associated with the relevant service group. To communicate with the headend, the CPE 106 uses the OOB or DOCSIS channels and associated protocols.
The provision of VOD services may fail as a result of faults in any of the components and communication paths described above. What would be useful is a system and method for determining that a fault affecting multiple subscribers has occurred and for identifying the probable cause and location of that fault.

System and method for identifying and isolating faults in a video on demand provisioning system


To implement a circuit design on a programmable integrated circuit (IC), first data are generated for implementing the circuit design. Critical and non-critical portions of the circuit design are determined, and second data are generated for programming configuration memory cells of the programmable IC to implement the circuit design. A first subset of the second data is assigned to program a first type of configuration memory cells to implement the critical portion of the circuit design on a first subset of programmable logic resources and a first subset of programmable interconnect resources of the programmable IC. A second subset of the second data is assigned to program a second type of configuration memory cells to implement the non-critical portion of the circuit design on a second subset of programmable logic resources and a second subset of programmable interconnect resources. The second data are stored in an electronically readable storage medium.

Traditional programmable integrated circuits (ICs) such as Complex PLDs (CPLDs) and Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) typically use millions of Static Random Access Memory (SRAM) configuration memory cells to program the functionality of the implemented circuit. The configuration memory cells may be those for programming interconnect, logic, or memory resources of the programmable IC, for example.
The presence of an increasing number of SRAM configuration memory cells in programmable ICs, with chip geometries becoming smaller and supply voltages becoming lower, increases the likelihood that the configuration memory cell storage state could be upset due to collisions with cosmic particles from outer space or alpha particles from IC packaging materials. The unexpected change in state of a memory cell is referred to as a single event upset (SEU). With SEUs more likely to occur, the mean time to failure for a particular program configuration for the PLD will decrease and the failures in time (FIT) rate will increase.

Programmable integrated circuit having different types of configuration memory


A magnetic tunneling junction non-volatile register with feedback for robust read and write operations. In an embodiment, two MTJ devices are configured to store a logical 0 or a logical 1, and are coupled to drive an output node to a voltage indicative of the stored logical 0 or a logical 1. The output of a D flip-flop is fed to the two MTJ devices so that the state of the D flip-flop may be stored in the two MTJ devices during a store operation. During a read operation, the D flip-flop outputs the state of the two MTJ devices. Read disturbances are mitigated with the use of an edge detector coupled to the output node, so that a LOW voltage is provided to the D flip-flop if a rising voltage at the output node is detected.

Many mobile electronic devices are designed to power down various circuit elements, or entire circuits, when not needed so as to conserve battery power. Some circuit elements with state, such as for example clocked flip-flops, may be part of a circuit that is powered down to save power. However, the memory of many such sequential logic circuit elements is volatile in the sense that it is lost by the circuit elements when they are powered down. When such circuit elements are turned back on, their state should be restored to what it was before they were powered down so that the mobile electronic device operates properly.
Accordingly, before powering down a sequential logic circuit element with volatile state so as to save power when it is not needed, the circuit element's state may be stored in non-volatile memory. When the circuit element is to be turned back on, its prior state may be recalled from the non-volatile memory and loaded into the circuit element. It is desirable that such store and recall operations are performed in a robust manner.

Magnetic tunneling junction non-volatile register with feedback for robust read and write operations


A touch panel using an optical sensor has a simple construction and can accurately detect an input position. An illuminating lights emitted from illuminating means are turned into lights having a high directivity in an X-axis direction and in a Y-axis direction of the prism lens sheet and thereafter enter from side faces of a light guide panel as incident lights. The incident lights advance in the inside of the light guide panel toward opposite side faces while being subjected to a total reflection and are received by the optical sensor arrays. When an input pen or a fingertip touches a surface of the light guide panel, the lights are refracted or absorbed at a touched position and hence, a quantity of received lights at the optical sensor arrays is reduced.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a touch panel which detects an input position inputted by a nib of a pen or a fingertip by means of optical sensors and an electronic equipment provided with such a touch panel.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, a touch panel is provided with pressure sensitive type sensors or electrostatic capacity type sensors on an entire panel surface and when the panel surface is touched with the nib or the fingertip, the sensors detect the position of the nib or the fingertip. Such a touch panel, however, requires mounting of sensors on the entire panel surface so that manufacturing of the touch panel is difficult and there also exists a problem in terms of its mechanical strength.
As a touch panel which can solve the above-mentioned problems, an optical type (or a photoconductive type) touch panel which disposes light emitting elements and light receiving elements on the periphery of a panel in an opposed manner is known. FIGS. 8A and 8B show such an optical type touch panel schematically. FIG. 8A is a top view and FIG. 8B is a cross-sectional view taken along a dashed line A-A′ of FIG. 8A.
As shown in FIGS. 8A and 8B, the light emitting elements 12a, 12b, 12c, 12d and 12e are arranged in line on one side of the panel 11 and the light receiving elements 13a, 13b, 13c, 13d and 13e are arranged in line on an opposing side of the panel 11. When the finger touches the panel 11, a light emitted from the light emitting element 12b is interrupted at a touched position and hence, an output signal of the light receiving element 13b opposing to the light emitting element 12b is reduced. That is, the finger touched position is detected as a position of the light receiving element of which the output signal has been reduced.
With respect to such an optical type touch panel shown in FIGS. 8A and 8B, however, the light propagates in air so that the light is liable to receive an outdoor daytime light. Furthermore, there is a drawback that the surfaces of the light emitting members 12a, 12b, 12c, 12d and 12e and the light receiving members 13a, 13b, 13c, 13d and 13e easily get dirty. One of touch panels in which this defect have been improved is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 7-253853. An entire disclosure of the Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 7-253853 is incorporated herein by reference.
As shown in FIG. 9, in the Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 7-253853, light emitting elements 22 are arranged in line on a side face of a deformable panel 21 including anisotropic transparent crystal and light receiving elements 23 are arranged in line on a side face opposing to the above-mentioned side face. Since the light emitting elements 22 and the light receiving elements 23 are mounted in close contact with the side faces of the panel 21, the panel hardly receives the influence of stain.
An emitted light from the light emitting element 22 advances toward the light receiving element 23 along an optical path P. When the panel 21 is pushed by a finger, a pushed portion is distorted and the emitted light from the light emitting element 22 advances along an optical path Q so that the emitted light is not received by the light receiving element 23. In this manner, a position of a portion which the finger touched can be detected. In such a touch panel, since the emitted light from the light emitting element advances in the inside of the panel and hence, it receives no influence of an outdoor daytime light.
With respect to the touch panel described in the Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 7-253853 shown in FIG. 9, however, since the panel 21 is deformed, when the panel 21 is mounted on the upper surface of a liquid crystal panel, the influence caused by the deformation of the panel 21 is transferred to the liquid crystal panel and affects the maintenance of cell gaps.
Furthermore, although the emitted light from the light emitting element 22 is reflected and guided to the outside of the panel by making use of the deformation of the panel 21, depending on the degree of deformation of the panel 21, that is, depending on the radius of curvature of a deformed portion, there is a case that the light advancing along the optical path P cannot be reflected to the outside of the panel 21 and the light is scattered in the inside of the panel 21. When such scattering of light occurs, a finger touched position cannot be accurately detected.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Touch panel, display device provided with touch panel and electronic equipment provided with display device

Semiconductor Energy Laboratory Co., Ltd.


A system and method for dynamic communication of wireless devices in a heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning (HVAC) system is provided. Aspects include receiving a mapping of a location comprising a plurality of zones having a plurality of devices in each zone, broadcasting a discovery signal to the plurality of devices in each zone, receiving a response signal from one or more devices in each zone, the response signal comprising a signal strength, analyzing the signal strength of each response signal to identify a master zone device based on the signal strength, and configuring the master zone device in each zone to broadcast a second discovery signal to the plurality of devices in a respective zone, the second discovery signal having instructions comprising a configuration for the each of the plurality of devices in the zone to broadcast device data to the respective master zone device.

Exemplary embodiments pertain to the art of HVAC systems and more specifically to dynamic communication of wireless devices in HVAC systems.
In heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning (HVAC) systems, wireless sensing devices can be located remotely from a thermostat and connect to the thermostat through a wireless network. However, certain buildings, such as large residential homes, can have a thermostat located at a convenient location to the occupant but be installed out of range of certain wireless sensing devices within the building. In addition, the sensing device (e.g., temperature, humidity, etc.) can have limited range due to the sensing devices being battery powered. And, attempting to further the range by boosting a transmission signal strength can reduce battery life of the devices.

Wireless system configuration of master zone devices based on signal strength analysis


A technology that is applicable generally to manual noncontact card readers regardless of whether they are of insertion or swipe type, and realizes stable communication even with antennas of small size is provided. A pair of loop antennas is located in opposition to either side of a transport path, in proximity to a card insertion slot of the transport path. A magnetic circuit which connects the loop antennas together is located so as to not lie exposed in the transport path, so that, of the magnetic fluxes produced in two directions with respect to the noncontact card from the loop antennas, one of these will be diverted through the magnetic circuit without interlinking to the card.

The present invention relates to a manual noncontact card reader for use in, for example, an entry and exit management system.
Card readers are generally classified motor-driven types and manual types. The motor-driven type card reader draws the card into the inside automatically by a motor-driven transport mechanism so that card information can be read. The manual type card reader manipulates the card by hand so that card information can be read. Manual type card readers are further classified as swipe type card readers which read information as the card is fed in one direction by hand, and insertion type card readers which read information by manually inserting the card into an insertion slot and then withdrawing the card.
While systems such as entry-exit management systems to date have mainly employed manual type card readers that use magnetic cards, more recently, noncontact cards, which can read information without contact by simply holding the card in a prescribed location of a unit, have come to rapidly replace magnetic cards. Given these circumstances, it is inevitable that there should be increasing demand for a manual noncontact card reader capable of handling a noncontact card through an operation that feels similar to using a conventional magnetic card.
However, with manual noncontact card readers, unlike motor-driven types, the card is manipulated by hand, and thus in some instances the card will not be transported at a uniform speed, making it difficult to accurately read the data. Moreover, with swipe type units, since only part of the card passes through the card transport path, the opposed areas of the antenna on the reader side and the antenna on the card side are of small dimensions, creating the problem of poor transfer efficiency and inconsistent communication between the two.
In one insertion type noncontact card reader, detecting modules are provided for detecting that a noncontact card has been placed at a fixed position at which stable communication with the antenna can take place; and communication with the noncontact card is initiated if the detecting module has detected that the noncontact card at the fixed position, whereby noncontact communication can take place stably and reliably.
In one swipe type noncontact card reader, a guide for temporary stop is provided at the terminal end of the card transport path, and a card removal unit is provided to a side thereof. With the noncontact card having been conveyed manually into initial contact with the guide for temporary stop, the card will communicate with an antenna on the reader side. The transport direction of the card will then change sideways so that the card is removed from the card removal unit, so as to make stable communication possible.
Another example of a swipe noncontact card reader has a pair of antennas that are provided to either side of the card transport path. The width of the opening of the transport path is made slightly shorter than the length of the short side of the card, while the depth of the opening of the transport path is equal in length to or longer than the short side of the card, whereby as the card is being swiped the card will become adjacent to at least one of the pair of antennas at a given angle, making sufficient power supply and communication possible.
A noncontact card reader having antennas for card detection positioned to either side of a card insertion slot is known. With this card reader, the noncontact card will be detected in front of the card insertion slot by orienting the plane of the antenna perpendicular to the card insertion direction. With this card reader, interlinkage of magnetic flux at the front side with the card will not be weakened by magnetic flux to the back side by providing a magnetic body that constitutes a magnetic path for magnetic flux to the back side of the antenna. Consequently, a state of good communication can be maintained.
As discussed above, various designs are employed for the purpose of enabling stable communication between the noncontact card and the card reader. However, the technology for the insertion type card readers cannot be implemented in swipe type or other card reader that lacks a fixed position where stable communication with the antenna can take place.
In the one swipe type card readers, owing to the special construction employed for the purpose of changing the card transport direction at midpoint, it would not be possible to implement the design in a swipe card reader that has a fixed transport direction. In another swipe type card readers, while the transport direction is fixed, it is necessary to make the width of the opening of the transport path slightly shorter than the length of the short side of the card and to make the depth equal in length to or longer than the short side of the card. The limitations imposed by this particular structure pose an obstacle to implementation in swipe card readers generally.
The noncontact card reader is a motor-driven rather than a manual card reader, and thus does not have the problems characteristic to manual card readers such as those discussed above. In this noncontact card reader, the antennas disposed to either side of the card insertion slot constitute antennas for card detection for the purpose of opening a shutter. The antenna for reading information from the card is disposed at a separate location further along the transport path. However, in a manual card reader, if an antenna for reading the card were disposed further along the transport path in this way, since the speed of the card as it passes the antenna location will be faster than that at initial insertion, an antenna of large planar dimensions will be necessary for stable communication between the antenna and the card. Therefore, it will be difficult to install such a large antenna in the limited space of a compact card reader.


A method of creating high density interlayer interconnects on circuit carrying substrates. A circuit pattern (20) is formed on one side of a substrate (10), and gold balls (30) are selectively placed on the circuit pattern using a thermosonic ball bonder. A liquid solution of a polymer is cast directly on the substrate and the etched circuit pattern such that only the upper portion of each gold ball is revealed when the liquid polymer solution is then dried and cured to form a dry film (40). A second layer of metal is then deposited directly on the dry film, such that it is electrically and mechanically connected to the exposed top of the gold balls. A second circuit pattern (50) is then formed in the second layer of metal. The resulting high density interconnect has two circuit layers separated by a dielectric layer. Each circuit layer is connected to the other by the gold balls that serve as conductive vias.

The ever-increasing performance capabilities and requirements of integrated circuit chips requires an increasing number of interconnections between chips at the substrate level. To fulfill this need, multilayer ceramic module technology was developed. The substrates for these modules had many (up to 23) layers, and each layer began as a part of a continuous cast sheet of ceramic material, which was cut into pieces 175 mm square, then punched with holes at high speed so that electrical connections could later be made between layers. Conductive paste was then extruded onto the green sheets through metal masks, forming a wiring pattern unique to a given layer. Stacks of these sheets, with the required configurations of conducting line and insulating layers, layer-to-layer connections, and reference and power planes, were laminated together and trimmed to form individual modules, which were then fired in a furnace to harden the ceramic. Finally, the upper surface of the module was plated with the chip sites. After electrical testing of the ceramic modules and the attachment of the input/output pins, a number of chips, at most nine but more typically six, were joined to their plated sites using Controlled Collapse Chip Connection (C4) joints. Up to 10 m of wiring could be contained within these 4 mm thick multilayer modules.
A more recent alternative to the multilayer ceramic module is the multilayer printed circuit board (PCB) that is fabricated by interleaving the cores with additional sheets of prepreg and copper foil. Lamination, hole drilling, photolithography, and plating processes are repeated to construct a multilayer composite. Although the process flow for the fabrication of a multilayer board is fairly simple, even multilayer circuit boards with just a few layers may require a hundred process steps. These are necessary to ensure interfacial cleanliness, to develop adequate adhesion of copper circuitry to the base resin, to achieve resist adhesion and proper resist performance, and to maintain the integrity of the inter-plane joint in the plated through-holes. As a consequence of the complex sequence of highly diverse processing steps, the circuit board materials are exposed to a number of very aggressive environments. These include aqueous etching/plating solutions, aqueous solutions or organic solvents for developing and stripping photoresists, various cleaning and degreasing agents, and high-temperature soldering operations. Each process has a high degree of complexity with the possibility of many types of interactions.
Clearly, one can see that it is difficult to control the quality and manufacturing process in both the ceramic module and the multilayer PCB, and that the inherent complexity of the manufacturing process mitigates against low cost and high reliability. A better method of making a multilayer high density interconnect substrate would be a significant contribution to the industry.


Tools and techniques for providing seamless enterprise and consumer mobility are described. More particularly, the tools manage network connections between a communications device and two or more networks. A first network has a first type, and a second network has a second type different type than the first network. When the communications device is proximate the first network, a first device detection signal is generated. Also, a first presence signal is associated with the first network, and varies in response to a condition of a connection between the communications device and the first network. The first presence signal indicates whether the condition of the connection permits an ongoing communication to use the first network. When the condition of the connection does not permit the ongoing communication to continue using the first network, the communication is handed over to the second network.

Traditionally, nearly every household and business employed a landline telephone system as a form of communication. However, wireless communication has grown in popularity, such that approximately seventy percent of the households in the United States have a cellular phone or a mobile communication device, while some households no longer employ a landline. Usage of cellular phones or communication devices has also grown in businesses, but landlines are still commonly employed in office environments because they may be less expensive to use.
Having a cellular phone or mobile communication device as the only form of communication poses several unique problems. One problem is that coverage is typically provided over a limited pre-selected service area. As a consequence, there may be no service available outside of the pre-selected service area. If service is available when one travels outside the pre-selected service area, it may be very expensive.
Another problem relates to network operating efficiency in different physical environments. For example, electromagnetic signals may be unable to penetrate fully through the walls of buildings. If users of cellular phones or other mobile communication devices bring their devices inside such buildings, their devices may be unable to operate, and the quality of their services may deteriorate or terminate altogether. As a result, users are inconvenienced when traveling, working at home or inside buildings, or at other remote locations.
With the penetration of wireless communication, communications services represent the fastest growing segment of the telecommunications industry worldwide. Prior to wireless communications services, communications services were primarily offered through landline providers. In particular, the landline providers offered services that were targeted toward "business" users of their network. These business users employed communications services provided by the landline networks, which were primarily available only at the office. In addition, as business users of cellular phones moved from a central office site, to remote office locations, and to home locations, maintaining consistent, high-quality access to these services in these different physical environments may become problematic.

Seamless enterprise and consumer mobility


‘Dawn’ is a distinctive cultivar of Alocasia plant which is characterized by the combination of large multi-colored cordate-sagittate foliage with large and broadly-disbursed color patterns, undulate margins, helicoid-apiculate apex, reduced browning of lighter colors in sunlight, and the stability of all characteristics from generation to generation.

Parentage: 'Dawn' originated as a naturally occurring, whole-plant mutation of an unnamed plant of the commercial cultivar Alocasia macrorrhiza variegata (not patented). In 2018, the inventor discovered the mutation at her commercial shade house in Miami, Fla., growing amongst a cultivated population of unnamed Alocasia macrorrhiza variegata plants. The mutation was noted for its large multi-colored cordate-sagittate foliage with large and broadly-disbursed color patterns, undulate margins, helicoid-apiculate apex, reduced browning of lighter colors in sunlight, and was subsequently isolated for further evaluation in order to confirm the distinctness and stability of the characteristics first observed. 'Dawn' was selected for commercialization after confirmation of distinctness and stability.
Asexual Reproduction: Asexual reproduction of 'Dawn', by way of division, was first initiated in the summer of 2018 at a commercial shade house in Miami, Fla. Through three years of continuous asexual reproduction, the unique features of this cultivar have proven to be stable and true to type.


In an awning having a substantially triangular awning fabric that can be wound onto a roller tube, provision is made for the roller tube to be actuated in the winding direction by a torsion spring that is disposed in a housing together with the roller tube; for the roller tube to be actuated in the pull-out direction by an electric motor that is disposed in the same housing; for a guide rail to be disposed on one end of the housing and a spacer rail to be disposed on the other end of the housing, said guide rail and spacer rail being connected in the region of their free outer ends to one another or to a window frame; for a deflection roller to be disposed in the connecting region of the spacer rail and guide rail; and for a rope or the like to be attached in the region of the triangular cloth tip and deflected via the deflection roller and guided along the guide rail to a rope sheave on the motor.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to an awning having a substantially triangular awning fabric that can be wound onto a roller tube.
2. Background Art
In the case of the so-called triangular shades of the above type, the known products are problematic as they require very precise on-site adjustments, generally resulting in considerable installation costs.
With this as the starting-point, the invention has as its object to create an awning according to the preamble that allows a pre-assembly at the factory to the greatest possible extent and can, accordingly, be quickly and easily installed at the place of installation and is furthermore characterized by a very reliable operation.
This object is met according to the invention in such a way that the roller tube is actuated in the winding direction by a torsion spring that is disposed in a housing together with the roller tube, that the roller tube can be actuated in the pull-out direction by an electric motor that is disposed in the same housing, that a guide rail is disposed on one end of the housing and a spacer rail on the other end of the housing, and the two can be connected in the region of their free outer ends either to one another or to a window frame, that a deflection roller is disposed in the connecting region of the spacer rail and guide rail, and that a rope or the like is secured in the region of the tip of the triangular cloth and guided, deflected via the deflection roller, along the guide rail to a rope sheave on the motor.
To the extent in which a rope is mentioned in the above, this means, in the most general sense, a deflectable pulling medium, such as, e.g., also a chain, a strap, a belt or the like. This inventive system makes on-site adjustments dispensable and permits delivery of a finished product that merely needs to be hung into a universal holder and can otherwise be fastened with a few screws. The design of the rope pulley permits a defined and even movement of the awning fabric.
A rope deflector is preferably formed in the region of the joint, i.e., in the simplest case, the joint itself serves as a deflection means.
To fasten the rope to the awning fabric, a front rail may be provided in the region of the tip of the triangular cloth, preferably in such a way that the articulated connection is designed displaceable along the front rail in order to thus permit a fine adjustment. This may be implemented with a hook that is slidable inside a groove.
A particularly compact construction is attained in such a way that the torsion spring, the roller tube, and the motor are disposed coaxially inside the housing and the motor is situated on one end and the torsion spring on the other end of the roller tube.
The invention will be explained in more detail below based on a preferred exemplary embodiment in conjunction with the drawing.


A computer mount for mounting a laptop computer in an automobile, such as a police or a public safety vehicle allows a computer to be quickly and easily moved to an out-of-the-way position (e.g., out of the deployed airbag zone) before moving the vehicle. Thus, while the vehicle is in motion the mount is kept low, out of the airbag zone. When the car is stopped, the mount is quickly and easily raised up and brought to a convenient ergonomic position for typing.

This invention relates to laptop computer mounts and more particularly to laptop computer mounts for use in all types of vehicles.
The use of portable computers (e.g., laptop computers) is widespread. In certain applications, portable computers are brought into vehicles, used temporarily and then removed for use elsewhere. For example, in law enforcement, an increasing number of police vehicles are equipped with laptop computers to allow the police officer to enter or retrieve data relating to the operator of a motor vehicle.
In some cases, particularly where the driver is the sole occupant of the vehicle, the passenger seat is used as a work surface for the computer. Of course, doing so comes at the expense of sacrificing the passenger seat, an impractical option in most cases. Using the passenger seat as a working surface is impossible when the vehicle has two occupants in the front seats. For vehicles used only with single occupants, the passenger seat area can be modified to form a more appropriate working surface. Even in this situation, the seated driver must twist into an uncomfortable position to use the computer.
Other solutions to this problem have been sought in the form of brackets allowing the computer to be attached to various parts of the car including the steering column or console. However, the vehicle cannot safely be driven with the device in place because deployment of air bags could damage the computer and/or cause injury to the vehicle""s occupants. Additionally, assembling and disassembling the computer and brackets before and after each use can be time consuming.
The invention features a mount for use in a vehicle (e.g., an automobile) which is comfortably accessible when the vehicle is not moving and can be quickly and easily moved and safely locked into an xe2x80x9cout-of-the-wayxe2x80x9d position before the vehicle is moved. In other words, when the car is stopped, the mount is quickly and easily raised up in a single action to a convenient ergonomic position for typing. On the other hand, just prior to moving the car, the computer can be quickly repositioned in a single action out of the deployed air bag zone.
In one aspect, the invention features a computer mount assembly including a biasing element, a rail assembly, and a mount having a surface for receiving a computer. The mount is connected to a second end of the rail assembly and to a second end of the biasing element, and is slidably movable in a single action between an up position and a down position relative to a first end of the rail assembly and a first end of the biasing element. The single action design allows an occupant of the vehicle to reposition the mount with only one hand instantaneously.
Embodiments of the invention may include one or more of the following.
The mount is further configured to be slidably movable in a single action to a plurality of positions between the up position and the down position. Additionally, surface of the mount is adjustable, i.e., tiltable and swivelable. The plurality of positions and surface adjustability allows occupants of different size to move the mount into multiple ergonomic positions. The computer mount assembly further includes a housing to which both the first end of the biasing element and the first end of the rail assembly are connected. A pin is attached to the housing and configured to engage the mount in a plurality of positions.
The biasing element and the rail assembly are positioned relative to a base of the housing to reduce the effective amount of force needed to compress the biasing element, e.g., to about 60% of the end-on force. The biasing element and the rail assembly are attached to the mount at an angle relative to a base of the housing creating an incline plane thereby reducing the effective amount of force necessary to compress the biasing element. The angle between the base and the rail assembly is fixed, e.g., about 45 degrees, whereas the angle between the base and the biasing element varies, e.g., between about 0 to about 40 degrees, as the mount is moved between the up position and the down position. The variable angle design allows longer biasing elements to be used in the assembly without needing to increase the overall height of the assembly in the down position.
The rail assembly includes a first member at the first end and a second member at the second end. The second member is slidable in a direction parallel to a longitudinal axis of the first member to a plurality of positions between the up position and the down position by engaging a pin attached to the housing with the mount. The mount is slidably movable between about 6 to about 15 inches away from the housing at an angle of between about 30 degrees to about 60 degrees relative to a base of the housing.
The mount includes adjustable members configured to secure a computer to the surface of the mount. At least one of the adjustable members is secured to the surface with a locking mechanism to protect the computer from theft.
In certain embodiments, the computer mount can be instantly positioned up and toward the rear of the vehicle (e.g., about 8 inches on an angle of about 45 degree) in adjustable increments of about 1 inches to place the computer in a convenient typing location. The mount swivels and tilts for convenient operation and viewing of the computer.
Other features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the drawings, the following Detailed Description, and the claims.

Adjustable high-low locking laptop computer mount


Embodiments are provided for segment demarcation and identification in adaptive streaming by enabling marking chunks according to multiple standards simultaneously. An encoder boundary point (EBP) structure is used to indicate a plurality of partitions corresponding to a plurality of representations for a same content. A partition is a set of continuous chunks within a media stream of a defined length according to a corresponding standard. The EBP structure includes a bit-mask that is set to indicate one or more partitions in the stream. The EBP structure can indicate a boundary point for more than two partitions allowing a stream to be partitioned in several ways according to different standards. Additionally, a program map table (PMT) descriptor is used to describe each partition, providing information to process each partition. The PMT descriptor includes a packet identifier (PID) value for packets containing EBP structures.

While traditional Internet Protocol television (IPTV) uses continuous transport streams, adaptive bitrate (ABR) Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) streaming uses discrete addressable chunks of data, typically files, or byte ranges within a file. A typical model for a multiple system operator (MSO)-operated content delivery network (CDN) is traditional IPTV-style multicasts distributed within the core network, the contents of which is converted at the edge to discrete chunks and served via HTTP to clients. Streams (and consequently chunks) provide different representations of the same content. In other words, representations are renditions of same content which have different properties such as bitrate, resolution, or other content related properties. The CableLabs encoder boundary point (EBP) specification relates to marking these traditional IPTV-style multicast streams to allow low-complexity conversion into discrete chunks. As conversion is made into different ABR streaming standards, different borders are needed for different standards, such as 10 second chunks are often used with Apple HTTP Live Streaming (HLS), and 2 second chunks are a common practice for Microsoft SmoothStreaming. As such, efficient system and method are needed for using EBP to support multiple standards and segmentation modes.

System and method for segment demarcation and identification in adaptive streaming


A method and a device for detecting a touching point (i.e. contact point) on a machine having a rotating shaft, in which the touching point (i.e. contact point) on the shaft is determined during operation. This is performed by measuring the grounding state of the shaft by measuring a characteristic (such as a current) of electricity flowing to ground via one or more ground connections provided on the shaft.

Electrical machines, in particular large electrical machines such as those used in power stations, should be monitored continuously in order to ensure friction-free operation and/or analyzed from time to time in order to recognize faults in time and to avoid uncontrolled failures.
EP 0 271 678 A1 proposes, for example, a device with which statements can be made on the functional reliability and functional safety of the shaft grounding or the insulation of the shaft. The device proposed therein, which is actually envisaged for reducing shaft voltages, allows statements to be made on the entire grounding conditions of the electrical machine.
If the rotating metal shaft of a machine comes into contact with or touches the metal of the housing parts surrounding it, wear occurs. With generators, considerable electrical currents can also flow via the contact points and lead to instances of overheating, erosion or even melting processes. It is correspondingly desirable to detect such instances of the metal parts coming into contact with each other during operation and to localize the touching points. In this document, the terms "touching points" and "contact points" are used interchangeably.
It is known to provide double insulation for the bearings of machines, for example for the purpose of detecting touching points, and to arrange a conductive layer between the two insulating layers. Monitoring is then carried out to ascertain whether this conductive intermediate layer has a resistive conductive connection to the shaft or to ground. If this is the case, one of the insulating layers is defective. One disadvantage of this method is the fact that the insulating layers in the bearing are only tested selectively, but not the shaft insulation per se, i.e. the insulation state of the entire shaft cannot be determined. It is therefore, for example, not possible to establish whether the shaft is in direct contact with the housing. One disadvantage of this method is, inter alia, that only the insulating layers in the bearing are tested, but not the shaft insulation per se. It is not possible to establish whether the shaft is in contact with, for example, the housing.
Methods also exist in which currents through the shaft are measured by means of uniform-field coils. Here too, contact points between the shaft and the housing or ground are not detected directly, but only the indirect consequences of these contacts.
EP 0 503 846 A2 describes a method and a device for detecting faults in the insulation between a shaft of a generator and the bearings or seals which guide said bearings. For measurement purposes, a transformer is placed around the stationary shaft and is driven with alternating current. Then, a voltage measuring device, which is grounded on one side and is connected to the shaft on the other side at a point at which a fault is suspected to be, is used to measure the voltage. Such methods allow for effective measurement of faults in the rest state, but the touching points or contact points occurring exclusively during operation cannot be found in this way.

Method and device for detecting a contact point on a shaft of a rotating machine


The invention makes it possible to adjust the color appearance for each display unit, e.g., each dot, in a color display obtained by using a color filter. A color filter includes a plurality of dot-shaped color films provided on a substrate. At least one of the dot-shaped color films includes a first film and a second film having different color properties, the second film being deposited on the first film. The thickness ratio of the first film to the second film changes within one dot-shaped color film. Alternatively, a first film and a second film may be formed so as to be adjacent to each other in one dot-shaped color film and in such a way that the first film and the second film have different color properties.

The present invention relates to a color filter including a plurality of color films provided on a substrate and a method for making the same. The present invention also relates to a liquid crystal device including the color filter and a method for making the same. The present invention further relates to an electronic apparatus including the liquid crystal device.
Liquid crystal devices are currently widely used for electronic apparatuses, such as mobile phones, mobile information terminals, wristwatches, and mobile computers. For example, the liquid crystal devices are used as display sections to display images, such as text, numerals, and graphics. Many liquid crystal devices perform full color display, and in such cases, color filters are included in the liquid crystal devices.
In general, in the color filters, color films of the individual colors, such as the additive primary colors, red (R), green (G), and blue (B), are arranged in a predetermined pattern, for example, a striped pattern, a delta pattern, or a mosaic pattern.
With respect to the display mode of the liquid crystal device, the related art includes a reflective display using external light, such as sunlight or indoor light, and a transmissive display using an illumination unit as a backlight. The related art also includes so-called "transflective displays" in which either reflective display or transmissive display is selected as required.
In the liquid crystal device which performs transflective display, for example, a reflective layer to reflect external light is provided in the device, and openings are formed in the reflective layer or the reflective layer is formed thinly so that light emitted by a backlight or the like is transmitted through the reflective layer.
When reflective display is performed, external light is reflected by the reflective layer and supplied to the liquid crystal layer, and when transmissive display is performed, light from the backlight or the like is transmitted through the reflective layer and supplied to the liquid crystal layer. When color display is performed using a color filter, light before being supplied to the liquid crystal layer or light after being transmitted though the liquid crystal layer passes through the color filter, and the light in the appropriate wavelength range is selected to perform color display.

Color filter, method for making color filter, liquid crystal device, method for making liquid crystal device, and electronic apparatus


A semiconductor memory device including a bit line sense amplifier for amplifying a voltage corresponding to a charge stored in a capacitor of a memory cell and outputting an amplified voltage and an I/O sense amplifier for receiving the output of the bit line sense amplifier, amplifying a voltage level of the output and outputting an amplified voltage level is disclosed. The semiconductor memory device includes a sense amplification enable signal control portion which receives an initial sense amplification enable signal, sequentially delays the initial sense amplification enable signal by a plurality of predetermined time periods and selectively outputs a plurality of delayed sense amplification enable signals in view of both an operation speed and a manufacturing yield of a semiconductor memory device; a plurality of clocked sense amplifiers which each receive an output signal of the I/O sense amplifier, amplify the output signal of the I/O sense amplifier in response to each of the plurality of delayed sense amplification enable signals, and sequentially output an output signal of a power voltage level or a ground voltage level in response; and a previous-step output driving circuit which sequentially receives the output signals of the plurality of clocked sense amplifiers, delays the output signals of the plurality of clocked sense amplifiers by a predetermined time period, and then intercepts an output of the clocked sense amplifier of a previous step.

1. Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the present invention relate to a semiconductor memory device, and more particularly, to a semiconductor memory device having a plurality of sense amplifiers which output a plurality of sense amplification enable signals.
2. Description of the Related Art
A semiconductor memory device uses a sense amplifier which receives a small signal to determine a voltage or current level and transmits it to an output pin in order to read data stored in a memory cell.
A sense amplifier having one terminal or a plurality of terminals is conditionally used to properly detect read data stored in a memory cell, and in most cases, the final output terminal of the sense amplifier uses a clocked regenerative amplifier using a positive feedback characteristic since the final output of the sense amplifier should have a power voltage or ground voltage level.
The clocked regenerative amplifier has an advantage in a self amplifying function in that an output signal of a power voltage level and a ground voltage level can be generated in a relatively short time when an enable signal transitions to a high level even in a case where an input signal of a relatively small voltage level is applied.
On the other hand, the clocked regenerative amplifier has a disadvantage in that if error data are applied at a point in time when an enable signal transitions to a high level, a full latch form cannot change them properly them to accurate data, and a semi latch form can possibly change them to accurate data, but it can take a long time for this transition to accurate data.
For the foregoing reasons, the clocked regenerative amplifier can be used in contemporary semiconductor memory devices as a sense amplifier, since a high manufacturing yield can be achieved to ensure that a sense amplification enable period maintains a sufficient margin until a stable input signal is guaranteed.
However, if the sense amplification enable time point is too late, an operation speed characteristic of the semiconductor memory device may be degraded, and thus a sense amplification enable time point should be determined in light of the tradeoff between manufacturing yield and operation speed characteristic.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a data output path of a conventional semiconductor memory device having a clocked regenerative amplifier. The semiconductor memory vice of FIG. 1 comprises a memory cell 10, a bit line sense amplifier 20, an I/O sense amplifier 30, a clocked regenerative amplifier 40, a previous-step output driving circuit 50, and an output driving circuit 60. The I/O sense amplifier 30 comprises a current amplifier 32 and a differential amplifier 34.
Functions of the components of the data output path of the semiconductor memory device of FIG. 1 are described below with reference to FIG. 1.
The memory cell 10 receives a row address to enable a word line WL, and the bit line sense amplifier 20 amplifies a voltage corresponding to a charge stored in a capacitor C of the memory cell 10.
The I/O sense amplifier 30 receives outputs of a bit line BL and a bit line bar BLB of the bit line sense amplifier 20 through a global I/O line pair GIO and GIOB to amplify a current level through the current amplifier 32 and the differential amplifier 34.
The clocked regenerative amplifier 40 receives output signals IN and INB of the I/O sense amplifier which do not have a power voltage level or a ground voltage level from the I/O sense amplifier 30 and outputs output signals Q and QB of a power voltage level and a ground voltage level in response to a state of the sense amplification enable signal SA_EN.
The previous-step output driving circuit 50 receives a positive output signal Q of a power voltage level and a negative output signal QB of a ground voltage level from the clocked regenerative amplifier 40 and delays them by a predetermined time before outputting them through a data line.
The output driving circuit 60 receives an output signal from the previous-step output driving circuit 50 and delays it by a predetermined time period before outputting buffered read data to a data I/O pin.
An operation of the data output path of the semiconductor memory device having the clocked regenerative amplifier according to the conventional art is described below with reference to FIG. 1.
When an NMOS transistor N in the memory cell 100 receives a row address through its gate to enable the word line WL, the NMOS transistor N is turned on, so that charge stored in the capacitor C is transmitted through the NMOS transistor N.
The bit line sense amplifier 20 receives charge stored in the capacitor C of the memory cell 10 in the form of an electric current through the bit line BL and the bit line bar BLB to firstly amplify a voltage corresponding thereto.
The I/O sense amplifier 30 receives voltage outputs of the bit line BL and the bit line bar BLB which are firstly amplified by the bit line sense amplifier 20 through the global I/O line pair GIO and GIOB, and secondly amplifies them at the current amplifier 32 and then thirdly amplifies them at the differential amplifier 34.
The clocked regenerative amplifier 40 receives the thirdly amplified voltage outputs which do not have a power voltage level or a ground voltage level from the I/O sense amplifier 30 and receives the sense amplification enable signal SA_EN through a clock signal input terminal, so that it is synchronized with the sense amplification enable signal SA_EN to output the output signals Q and QB of a power voltage level and a ground voltage level.
That is, the clocked regenerative amplifier 40 as the latch form does not operate when the sense amplification, enable signal SA_EN has a low level, and it receives the voltage outputs IN and INB of the I/O sense amplifier 30 which are thirdly amplified and does not have a power voltage level or a ground voltage level to generate in a short time, and output, the output signals Q and QB of a power voltage level and a ground voltage level by repetitive self amplification while the sense amplification enable signal SA_EN transitions to a high level and then maintains a high level.
The previous-step output driving circuit 50 receives the positive output signals and the negative output signals Q and QB which have a power voltage level and a ground voltage level from the clocked regenerative amplifier 40 and delaying them by a predetermined time before outputting them through the data line, and so the output driving circuit 60 receives the output signals and delays them by a predetermined time before outputting the buffered read data RD to the data I/O pin.
FIG. 2 is a dispersion graph illustrating a relationship between a sense amplification enable signal generating time point and a manufacturing yield for the conventional semiconductor memory device. In FIG. 2, a horizontal axis denotes the sense amplification enable signal generating time point, a vertical axis denotes dispersion of semiconductor memory devices manufactured, and the area below the dispersion curve line denotes the manufacturing yield.
An operation speed of the sense amplifier is in proportion to a generation time point of the sense amplification enable signal SA_EN, and thus the faster the generation time point of the sense amplification enable signal SA_EN, the faster the operation speed of the sense amplifier, whereas the slower the generation time point of the sense amplification enable signal SA_EN, the slower the operation speed of the sense amplifier.
The operation speed of the sense amplifier is in inverse proportion to the manufacturing yield, and thus the faster the operation speed of the sense amplifier, the lower the manufacturing yield of the semiconductor memory device, where manufacturing yield can be related to a ratio by which good quality dies are selected in a wafer test process.
Thus, semiconductor memory devices having a relatively fast generating time point of the sense amplification enable signal SA_EN have a relatively low manufacturing yield, whereas semiconductor memory device having a relatively slow generating time point of the sense amplification enable signal SA_EN have a relatively high manufacturing yield, so that a relation therebetween has dispersion of a normal distribution.
For example, assume that one million dies are produced from a semiconductor wafer. In a relatively low-speed semiconductor memory device in which the generating time point of the sense amplification enable signal SA_EN is 4 ns, up to 9 hundred thousand dies are determined to be passed as good quality, whereas in a relatively high-speed semiconductor memory device in which the generating time point of the sense amplification enable signal SA_EN is 3 ns, up to only 8 hundred thousand dies are determined to be passed as good quality.
Such discrepancy in yield can be caused from a mismatch such as an electrical parameter difference and a threshold voltage difference between the NMOS transistors in the sense amplifier and a capacitor difference between the bit line BL and the bit line bar BLB.
In order to resolve this discrepancy, since there is a restriction to setting the optimum generation time point of the sense amplification enable signal SA_EN for all dies on the semiconductor wafer, the low speed semiconductor memory device having a high manufacturing yield is first produced by giving priority to a manufacturing yield or otherwise the high speed semiconductor memory device having a low manufacturing yield is first produced by giving priority to an operation speed. That is, one of the two methods for determining priority should be selected.


A thermoelectric structure for cooling an integrated circuit (IC) chip comprises a first type superlattice layer formed on top of the IC chip connected to a first voltage, and a second type superlattice layer formed on the bottom of the IC chip connected to a second voltage, the second voltage being different from the first voltage, wherein an power supply current flows through the first and second type superlattice layer for cooling the IC chip.

The present invention relates generally to heat dissipation in semiconductor devices, and, more particularly, to a cooling device employing thermoelectric structures and through-silicon-via (TSV).
As semiconductor process technology progresses, more and more devices can be integrated in a given die size, and at the same time the integrated circuit (IC) can run at greater clock speed (higher frequency). This results in higher power dissipation thus an increase in the die temperature. The increased die temperature will directly affect the performance of the IC due to mobility degradation at high temperature. Long term wise, the quality and reliability of the IC will also be affected due to electromigration and oxide breakdown. The lifetime of IC devices exponentially decrease with the increasing die temperature.
IC chips are conventionally cooled by fans, heat sinks, circulated liquids or thermoelectric effects. The fans, heat sinks and circulated liquids are often time very bulky and may not effectively reduce uneven temperature distribution within the IC chip. The circulated liquids, additionally, have a leakage problem over time. The thermoelectric effect refers to a temperature difference created by an electric potential. However, running electricity itself generates Joule heating which undermines the thermoelectric cooling effect, and lowers the cooling efficiency thereof.
As such, what is desired is an efficient heat dissipation packaging system utilizing thermoelectric cooling that does not contribute extra Joule heating and is easy to assemble and occupies less space.

Thermoelectric cooler for semiconductor devices with TSV

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufactuirng Co., Ltd.


Systems and processes may promote simplified and customized reconciliation of an entire period of time's transactions by a merchant computing system through the use of PSS batching techniques and related reporting. In embodiments, a merchant computing system may be able to reconcile an entire day of sales in a single received line item based on the merchant's single day total for a certain alternate form of payment provider. Embodiments employing the batching and reporting techniques can promote simplification and enhanced processing at a merchant computing system through avoidance of individual reconciliation of alternate forms of payment transactions and by reconciliation over a time-period range set by a merchant or set by an alternate form of payment provider.

Batch processing of transactions using alternative forms of payment is described and taught. More specifically, systems, processes and articles of manufacture that serve to improve systems or processes by setting or confirming relationships between cumulative transaction totals for a calibrated period or individual transactions comprising those cumulative transaction totals or both, are described and taught herein.
Payment can be made for goods and services using various monetary means. These can include cash, debit cards, merchant sponsored credit cards, bank sponsored credit cards, and alternative forms of payment, such as: Paypal®; BitCoin; and Alipay. Each of these methods of payment may set their own rules, procedures, calendars, and syntax for linking individual sales to received customer payments. Accordingly, an entity accepting payment is obliged to conform its systems and practices to comply with the rules, procedures, calendars, and syntax of methods of payment it selects to accept. When seven methods of payment are accepted, for example, it is feasible that an entity determine and accommodate dozens of different sets of rules, procedures, calendar, and syntax for processing payments in order to offer each individual payment method to its customers. This accommodation adds complexity to computing systems, increases the burden of maintaining these systems, and adds additional processing and resource requirements for these associated computing systems.

Batch processing composition and conversion


In fill-level measuring devices according to the pulse-transit-time method, a reflection that is generated internally in a microwave module is used as a reference for transit time measuring. For generating the reference pulse, the microwave module comprises its own sampling mixer or its own oscillator. Subsequently, the echo signal and the reference pulse can be further processed separately or together. No delay line is necessary on the transmission frequency of the radar sensor. Interference as a result of leakage signals is largely prevented.

In fill-level measuring devices according to the pulse transit-time method, a reflection that has been generated internally in a microwave module is used as a reference for transit time measuring.
The stability of this internally generated reflection as far as amplitude, shape and location are concerned is decisive to the accuracy of the measuring device, because any change may result in a shift in the reference (zero point).
In hitherto known fill-level measuring devices the reference pulse is obtained from a mixture of different reflections. These individual reflections arise, for example, by way of the antenna input, the plug-and-socket connections at the microwave module, the transition from the printed circuit board to coaxial lines or waveguides, as well as by way of leakage signals in the transmitter-receiver filter circuit (e.g. in the directional coupler or in the circulator). Furthermore, by superposition with very large echoes of a product contained in a container, the shape of the reference pulse may change to such an extent in the region of the antenna that inaccuracies may occur.
By inserting lines between different circuit components, wherein the length of the lines corresponds at least to the resolution of the fill level radar, different reflections may be better separated from each other.
In order to reduce any influencing as a result of echoes at short range, a line with the length of a transmission pulse (corresponds approximately to the resolution of the sensor) can be used between the transmitter-receiver filter circuit and the transition from the microstrip line to the coaxial line. Likewise, a piece of coaxial line can be used between this transition and the waveguide coupling.
However, the influence which the remaining reflections have on the reference pulse may remain in this arrangement. If, for example, the insulation of the transmitter-receiver filter circuit changes over temperature, this also may affect the reference pulse and thus the measured value.
A further option for obtaining the reference pulse may consist of coupling out part of the signal already significantly earlier in the circuit and, by way of a directional coupler, feeding said part of the signal into the mixer. However, generally speaking, this may require delaying the transmission signal so that the undesired reflections can reliably be separated from the purposefully obtained reference signal. However, in this arrangement the transit time line may have relatively large attenuation, which may have to be compensated for by means of an amplifier. This may result in increased current consumption by the microwave module.


A semiconductor device, having an insulating substrate; a semiconductor element which is mounted on one main surface of the insulating substrate via adhesive, with an element circuit surface of the semiconductor element facing upwards; a first insulating material layer which seals the element circuit surface of the semiconductor element and the insulating substrate peripheral thereto; a first metal thin film wire layer which is provided on the first insulating material layer (A) and a portion of which is exposed to an external surface; a first insulating material layer (B) which is provided on the first metal thin film wire layer; a second insulating material layer which is provided on a main surface of the insulating substrate where the semiconductor element is not mounted; and a second metal thin film wire layer which is provided inside the second insulating material layer.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor device, a semiconductor stacked module structure, a stacked module structure and a method for manufacturing same. More specifically, the present invention relates to a panel scale fan-out package structure in which a thin film wiring step and an assembly step are carried out on a large panel scale, and more particularly, is applicable to a semiconductor stacked module having a structure in which a plurality of packages are stacked vertically.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recent years have seen demands for higher functionality and reduced size and weight in electronic equipment, and accordingly, progress has been made in the high-density integration of electronic components and also in high-density mounting, and semiconductor devices used in such electronic equipment have also been becoming increasingly compact in size more than before.
As a method for manufacturing a semiconductor device such as an LSI unit or an IC module, firstly, a plurality of semiconductor elements judged to be good quality by an electrical properties test are arranged and bonded in a prescribed configuration on a supporting plate, with the element circuit surface facing downwards, whereupon, for instance, a resin sheet is arranged thereon and molded by applying heat and pressure, thereby sealing the plurality of semiconductor elements in a lump, whereupon the supporting plate is peeled away, the resin sealed body is cut and machined to a prescribed shape (for example, a circular shape), an insulating material layer is formed on the element circuit surfaces of the semiconductor elements buried in the sealed resin body, openings are formed in accordance with the positions of the electrode pads of semiconductor elements on the insulating material layer, and a wiring layer is then formed on top of the insulating material layer, in addition to which conducting sections (via sections) connected to the electrode pads of the semiconductor elements are formed inside the openings, whereupon a solder resist layer is formed, solder balls, which are to be external electrode terminals, are formed successively, and each semiconductor element is then cut out individually, one by one, to complete the semiconductor devices (for example, see Japanese Patent Publication No. 2003-197662).
However, in a conventional semiconductor device obtained in this way, when sealing with resin the plurality of semiconductor elements all together, the resin contracts upon curing and since the amount of contraction does not necessarily comply with the design, the positions after curing of the resin may deviate from the design positions, depending on the arrangement positions of the semiconductor elements, and in the semiconductor elements having positional deviation of this kind, positional deviation occurs between the via sections formed in the openings of the insulating material layer and the electrode pads of the semiconductor elements, and hence there is a problem in that connection reliability declines.
A semiconductor device which resolves this problem is described in Japanese Patent Publication No. 2010-219489.
FIG. 8 shows the basic structure of this device.
The semiconductor device 30 comprises a flat plate 31 constituted by a cured resin body or metal, a semiconductor element 32 being disposed with an element circuit surface facing upwards, on one main surface of the flat plate 31, and the surface on the opposite side to the element circuit surface (rear surface) being fixed to the flat plate 31 by adhesive 33. Only one insulating material layer 34 is formed on whole of the main surface of the flat plate 31 so as to cover the element circuit surface of the semiconductor element 32. A wiring layer 35 made from a conductive metal, such as copper, is formed on top of this single insulating material layer 34, and one portion thereof is extracted to a peripheral region of the semiconductor element 32. Furthermore, a via section 36 which electrically connects an electrode pad (not illustrated) of the semiconductor element 32 and the wiring layer 35 is formed on the insulating material layer 34 formed on top of the element circuit surface of the semiconductor element 32. This via section 36 is formed in an integrated fashion, together with the wiring layer 35. Moreover, a plurality of solder balls 37 which are external electrodes are formed at prescribed positions on the wiring layer 35. Furthermore, a protective layer such as a solder resist layer 38 is formed on top of the insulating material layer 34, and on top of the wiring layer 35 apart from the junctions with the solder balls 37.
The semiconductor device according to Japanese Patent Publication No. 2010-219489 has high connection reliability between the electrodes of the semiconductor element and the wiring layer, by means of the composition described above, and enables a semiconductor device which is compatible with miniaturization of the electrodes to be obtained inexpensively with a high yield rate.
However, with the semiconductor device described in Japanese Patent Publication No. 2010-219489, it is difficult to provide vias which pass through the package from the front side to the rear side thereof, and therefore it has been impossible to apply to stacked modules having a three-dimensional structure, which have been expanding rapidly in recent years and in which a semiconductor package or circuit substrate is stacked on another semiconductor package.
According to recent trends, there have been demands for further reduction in semiconductor package size and increase in the number of mounted semiconductor elements, and in response to these demands, a semiconductor apparatus having a package on package (POP) structure (Japanese Patent Publication No. 2008-218505), and a semiconductor apparatus having a through silicon via (TSV) structure (Japanese Patent Publication No. 2010-278334) have been proposed and developed, in which a semiconductor package or circuit substrate is stacked on another semiconductor package.
A semiconductor device having a conventional POP structure is now described on the basis of FIG. 9. The package on package (POP) is a package format in which a plurality of different LSIs are respectively assembled in individual packages, and after testing, these packages are stacked together.
A semiconductor device 40 is formed by stacking one semiconductor package 42 on another semiconductor package 41. A semiconductor element 44 is mounted on top of the substrate 43 of the lower-side semiconductor package 41, and an electrode pad (not illustrated) formed in a peripheral portion of the semiconductor element 44, and an electrode pad 45 on the substrate are electrically connected by a wire 46. The whole surface of the semiconductor element 44 is sealed with a sealing member 47. The semiconductor package 41 and the semiconductor package 42 are electrically connected to each other by reflow via an external connection terminal 48 (solder ball) formed on the lower surface of the semiconductor package 42.
A POP structure has advantages in that a larger mounting surface area can be ensured when mounting equipment, by stacking a plurality of packages as described above, and furthermore, production losses can be reduced since the respective packages can be tested individually. However, since the POP structure is formed by assembling packages individually and stacking these individually assembled packages, then it is difficult to reduce assembly costs by reducing (shrinking) the size of the semiconductor elements, and the assembly costs of the stacked module are very high indeed.
Next, a semiconductor device having a conventional TSV structure will be described with reference to FIG. 10. As shown in FIG. 10, the semiconductor device 50 has a structure in which a plurality of semiconductor elements 51, each having the same function and structure and each manufactured using the same manufacturing mask, and one interposer substrate 52, are stacked via a resin layer 53. The semiconductor element 51 is a semiconductor element using a silicon substrate, which is connected electrically to semiconductor elements adjacent thereabove and therebelow by a plurality of through electrodes (TSV: through silicon via) 54 passing through the silicon substrate, and furthermore is sealed by a sealing resin 55. On the other hand, the interposer substrate 52 is a circuit substrate made of resin and a plurality of external connection terminals (solder balls) 56 are formed on the rear surface thereof.
In a conventional through silicon via (TSV) stacked module structure, there is a possibility that the semiconductor element may be damaged due to the provision of through holes in each of the individual semiconductor elements, and it is necessary to add a plurality of complicated and expensive wafer steps, such as a step for forming via electrodes inside the through holes, thus leading to significant cost increases for the overall vertical stacked module. Furthermore, with a conventional structure, it has been difficult to achieve stacked mounting including chips of different sizes, and due to the "provision of a different rewiring layer for each layer" which is essential when stacking the same chips such as in a memory, the manufacturing costs are much higher than in a normal memory module, and there has been a problem in that price reduction due to the effects of mass production is not expected to a great extent.

Semiconductor device, semiconductor stacked module structure, stacked module structure and method of manufacturing same


An ink jet recording device including a recording head for depositing ink on a recording medium and a liquid absorbing device for absorbing excess liquid of the ink remaining on the recording medium after the depositing of the ink on the recording medium using the recording head, wherein the liquid absorbing device includes an absorber including a hydrophilic surface which contacts the excess liquid, and the hydrophilic surface has a residual fine particle ratio of not less than about 90%, the residual fine particle ratio being a ratio of fine particles remaining on the hydrophilic surface when fine particles having an average particle size of 5 μm are filtered by the hydrophilic surface.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an ink jet recording device that carries out recording by ejecting ink from a recording head on a recording medium and a method for ink jet recording using the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, the spread of color documents in offices has been remarkable, and various output instruments therefore have been suggested. Specifically, inexpensive ink jet systems that allow for miniaturization are being used for various output instruments.
A recording head used for an ink jet system has energy generating means, energy converting means for converting the energy generated by the energy generating means to ink ejecting force, an ink ejection orifice from which ink droplets are ejected by the ink ejecting force, and an ink feeding pathway communicating with the ink ejection orifice for feeding ink. Examples of the energy generating means may include means using an electromechanical converter such as a piezo element, or means for heating ink using an electric heat converting element comprising a heat generating resistor to form air bubbles and for ejecting ink droplets by the generation of the air bubbles.
Such ink jet system has a problem in that the ink droplets remaining on the recording medium after depositing of the ink on the recording medium lead to setting-off of the ink to other recording media and to curling or cockle due to excess amount of ink absorbed by the recording medium, since the ink mainly consists of liquid components.
For this reason, carrying out heating or ventilating of the recording medium or the like in order to quickly dry the recording medium after depositing of the ink has often been proposed. However, there are concerns with regard to growing power consumption and device size. On the other hand, while there is a method comprising absorbing the excess liquid of ink remaining on the recording medium using blotting paper, this method is not practical because colorant components in the ink can also be absorbed by the paper.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (JP-A) No. 2001-179959 discloses absorbing only excess liquid components (liquid solvent) of ink remaining on a recording medium by using a liquid absorber covered by a member having releasing property with respect to a coloring agent (colorant) after printing (after depositing of ink on a recording medium) for the purpose of absorbing only liquid components (liquid solvent) of the ink.
However, the above-mentioned method still has room for improvement because the positions for absorbing are scattered due to use of a surface layer having releasing property. Therefore, even though excess liquid of ink is absorbed, curling and cockle, and color bleeding occur due to differences in degrees of drying and penetration of ink placed on the recording medium.

Ink jet recording device and method for ink jet recording using the same


Various exemplary embodiments relate to a method for determining whether to admit a query in a network, the method including determining a load for a network element type based on an adaptive history for that network element type; determining a cost of admitting the query based on the relative load that the query generates accounting for the amount of traffic the network element has admitted in the past; decreasing a total cost of all queries that can be budgeted during a subsequent interval when the change in load is within a specified range; increasing the total cost of all queries that can be budgeted during a subsequent interval when the change in load is below a threshold; and adding the query to a data structure which keeps track of potentially admittable queries.

Internet of Things (IoT) operates in a space where there may potentially be a massive number of devices (20-100 billion predicted by 2020) adding huge demands of varying nature on the network. The IoT ecosystem needs to address a diverse user base across different vertical markets including industrial applications, smart homes, telematics, wearables, connected cars, utilities, eHealth, etc. Each of these vertical markets and devices are addressed by IoT devices that vary from a simple sensor/actuator to smart devices. The nature of the queries to and from the IoT devices depends on the application and the device characteristics and can vary from a simple non-time-critical request from a large number of devices to a complex time-critical query.
Characteristics of IoT devices include, for example, duty cycle, security, battery life, range, reliability, mobility and its relative speed, number of devices, data volume, and data rate. While all the listed attributes define the characteristics of the IoT devices, depending on the type of application, a subset of these attributes may apply.

Method and apparatus for query selection and admission (QSA) optimization for IoT and other applications