In one illustrative example disclosed, a mobile communication device includes a user interface, a processor, and a wireless transmitter. The user interface includes, among other things, a visual display which is part of a graphical user interface (GUI). For configuring a voice mailbox at a remote voicemail system, the GUI visually displays a user input prompt for voice mailbox configuration information which corresponds to an audible user input prompt provided by the voicemail system. The user input prompt may be, for example, a prompt for a user password, an audible voicemail greeting, or an audible user name for the voice mailbox. Through the user interface, the voice mailbox configuration information is received by the processor in response to the user input prompt and transmitted to the voicemail system by the wireless transmitter. Advantageously, the mobile device provides a consistent user-friendly GUI for voice mailbox configuration as well as for its primary applications.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to mobile communication devices and their operation with remote voicemail systems, and more particularly to methods and apparatus for remotely configuring voice mailboxes of voicemail systems from mobile communication devices.
2. Description of the Related Art
"Voicemail" is a common feature for practically all voice-based communication products. As examples, home telephone systems now offer voicemail features built right into telephones, telephone companies offer voicemail services in their phone networks, corporations provide voicemail for every desk with integration with e-mail, and wireless carriers offer voicemail packages in connection with their cellular telephones. The average professional may have two or three different voicemail systems that must be checked for new voicemail messages from the home, the office, or cellular telephone. Each voicemail system typically has a different password access and different command codes for the same voicemail functions (e.g. PLAY, REWIND, SAVE, and DELETE). The result of the above is that the end user must check several different voicemail systems for voicemail while away and remember each set of voicemail command codes. It would be advantageous to simplify the interaction with respect to one or more voicemail systems.
Mobile communication devices, such as cellular telephones or mobile e-mail devices, are also becoming increasingly ubiquitous. Many present-day mobile devices provide easy-to-use user interfaces for the input and output of user information. For example, a mobile device may provide an interactive graphical user interface (GUI) for several primary applications of the mobile device (e.g. e-mail or Internet applications). Conventionally, however, this GUI is not associated with the configuration of a voice mailbox of a voicemail system. Voice mailbox configuration information typically includes a user password, an audible greeting, and an audible user name. A voicemail system typically requires the user to call the voicemail system and actuate Dual Tone Multiple Frequency (DTMF) keys of the telephone device (i.e. voicemail system specific commands) to enter password information and speak into a microphone to record a user greeting and name. It would be further advantageous to simplify the user interface of the mobile device for consistency and ease-of-use for voice mailbox configuration.

Voice mailbox configuration methods and apparatus for mobile communication devices


A platform for performance of personal combat martial arts is made with a concave upper surface having a central generally flat region for main performance surrounded by a border region that slopes upwardly to the platform periphery, so that instead of the traditional impasse and fight interruption experienced when a combatant is forced into the border region, ropes or corners of conventional flat fight rings, the action tends to continue and automatically gravitate back into the main central region without interruption. A full-height constraint net that slopes upwardly and inwardly further urges combatants away from the periphery and safely prevents bodily ejection, thus protecting ringside spectators while providing all spectators with a good view of the sports action.

The conventional square "rings" that have become standard over a long period of time for boxing and wrestling and more recent "cages" for grappling and other martial arts are intended to contain the fighting action within the roped or fenced area and protect the spectators to some extent while providing the spectators with a good view of the action. The conventional flat platform, usually covered with a fabric or plastic mat, is located at a designated height above the surrounding floor at an elevation that has been selected to be as optimal as possible for the majority of spectators, but inherently with some view impairment and risk to ringside viewers.

Concave martial arts platform with inclined constraint net


An approach is provided for storing and retrieving digital audio/video data. A system bus of fixed width transfers data bits. The data bits form a bit pattern. An interface is coupled to system bus and is configured to alter the bit pattern of the data bits, according to a prescribed scheme. A hard disk drive is coupled to the interface and is configured to store the altered data bits. The approach has particular applicability to a digital set-top box for a direct satellite television system.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a digital communication system, and is more particularly related to protection of Digital Video Recording (DVR) content.
2. Discussion of the Background
Direct television broadcasting systems provide the consumers with high quality video and audio signals. Set-top based Digital Video Recording (DVR) to a hard disk is emerging as a needed feature in the highly competitive consumer electronics industry. With advances in digital recording and storage technologies, there is concern over unauthorized copying of the broadcast content.
The technology exists today to allow consumers to make a perfect and permanent personal digital copy of their favorite movie, for example. This capability to create high quality reproductions is recognized by the industry and consumers alike as a distinguishing product feature. However, because perfect digital copies can be readily made, content providers may be reluctant to supply programming to set-top boxes that incorporate unrestricted digital video recording. Thus, a potential near term impediment to the success of such a set-top box is the lack of an established mechanism to cost effectively prevent unauthorized reproduction of programming content. That is, content providers could be reluctant to support a set-top box that may lead to potential abuse of their material by the general consumers.
A number of scenarios exist whereby the consumer can distribute and replay the programming content of the set-top box. One approach would be as follows. A consumer records on a DVR enabled set-top certain content that is to be shared. Next, the consumer removes the hard drive from the set-top and installs the hard drive as a secondary drive in a PC. Thereafter, the consumer extracts content from the hard drive and posts the content on a web site in a format that is suitable for sharing.
Correspondingly, a consumer may find programming of interest on a web site. To view the content, the user installs a second hard drive in a PC. That is, the new second hard drive is in addition to the drive that is used to boot the PC and will be used for storing the digital content. Next, the user acquires and installs on the PC special software to format the new hard drive so that it is compatible with the set-top box. The user then captures the desired content to some PC storage (that is not the newly created set-top compatible disk), for example, downloading from the Internet. Special conversion software is then excuted to convert the digital video distribution image into a format compatible with the set-top box. Thereafter, the converted image is written to the new hard drive. The new hard drive is then removed from the PC and installed in the set-top box.
In addition to digital set-tops, a common DVD player may be used to share pirated content. Recordable DVD media and DVD recording devices will become sufficiently economical that the average consumer can obtain them for copying of programming content. If the source of the pirated content were a digital set-top, a conversion utility would be required to convert the digital formatted data that are stored on the set-top hard drive to that of the DVDs. The audio analogy of such a utility is a CD "ripper", which permits a user to extract music tracks from a CD for storage on the computer or MP3 player. Given suitable source material and appropriate "video ripper" software, it is reasonable to assume that the DVD-R may become an important method of distributing pirated digital video.
Another obvious playback platform is the PC. Any PC with a broadband Internet connection is well positioned to acquire the digital video content. Assuming the PC in question has a DVD player and a DVD-R writer, it would be straightforward for the user to acquire or copy a digital movie and write it to a DVD-R. The owner of such a PC could, with relative ease, build a substantial library of DVD-R digital video movies. Pirate DVDs borrowed from friends could easily be copied and the broadband Internet connection would offer access to a wealth of digital video. It is reasonable to assume that pirates first, then legitimate companies will emerge to provide web portals for downloading digital video.
Understandably, content providers are apprehensive about the ability to maintain control of their product to avoid theft or misuse, which undercut profitability. If the content providers become too uneasy about possible compromise of their product, they may withhold programming and be disinclined from developing additional programming. Hence, any DVR product or mechanism that is endorsed, for example, by a subscription movie service (e.g., DIRECTV©) must provide reasonable assurances to the content providers that the content will not be used in a fashion that is objectionable.
Therefore, it is clear that some form of security is needed to protect the programming content in a fashion that is acceptable to the content providers. Lack of industry consensus on suitable DVR content protection mechanisms can hamper mass-market success of the digital set-top box. The approach should prevent, or significantly hinder, an individual or small group of interested people from reverse engineering the DVR design to gain an unsecured copy of the content. Additionally, the approach should prevent the distribution of a "solution" that allows a large number of people to gain a personal copy of the DVR content.
A number of content protection methodologies have emerged, particularly with respect to security techniques in the disk drives. Disk drive manufacturers offer a variety of security techniques, such as the use of hidden sectors, restricted sectors, and encryption. Under the hidden sectors approach, various sectors of the hard disk drive that contain DVR content would not be visible to a personal computer (PC) running standard software. A drawback with this approach is that it is not particularly secure. A sufficiently knowledgeable consumer could monitor the disk drive interface of the set-top box and reverse engineer the hidden sectors. This knowledgeable consumer could then write custom PC software to make the hidden sectors visible to the PC. Such custom software would make the disks with hidden sectors roughly equivalent to those with normal sectors. This custom software may then be widely disseminated; for example, through the Internet.
Another approach is to restrict access to the sectors of the hard disk that contains the programing content. This mechanism does not permit the restricted sectors to be accessed without a suitable password, even though the sectors are visible. However, such an arrangement has the same drawback as that of the hidden sector protection mechanism, in that a sufficiently knowledgeable person can monitor the disk drive interface and capture the password, and accordingly, write custom PC software to provide the password when needed.
Some disk drive manufactures offer data encryption as the data is written to the disk and decryption as it is retrieved. Several variations of this concept exist, depending on the particular manufacturer. Approaches that provide the decrypt key in the clear suffer from the same problem previously discussed. That is, a sufficiently knowledgeable person can monitor the disk drive interface and capture the decryption key. This could be enhanced with public/private key encryption, but would require tight coupling between the disk drive manufacturer and the set-top manufacturer (not to mention increased per unit cost of the set-top boxes). The security of this approach depends more on the two manufacturers' ability to generate and manage unique disk drive/set-top key pairs than on the strength of the encryption. The tight coupling between keys in the set-top and drive dramatically complicates warranty repairs and other field support issues. Furthermore, both the encryption and decryption processes introduce latency in the recording and replaying of the content.
Based on the foregoing, there is a clear need for improved approaches to providing a Digital Video Recording (DVR) content protection mechanism.
There is also a need to provide a simple protection mechanism
There is a further need to supply a cost effective solution.
Therefore, an approach for preventing unauthorized copying of digital data is highly desirable.

Method and apparatus for securing digital video recording


An optical semiconductor device includes a ring waveguide, and a serpentine waveguide configured to be optically connected to the ring waveguide and surround at least a part of the ring waveguide in a serpentine form. In the optical semiconductor device, the serpentine waveguide heats the ring waveguide by absorbing input light propagated from the ring waveguide to the serpentine waveguide.

Mounting an optical device on silicon may be one of the important factors in reducing the size and power consumption of optical transceiver having a large capacity. Since an optical device on silicon is capable of employing an optical waveguide with a large relative refractive index difference, it may be more advantageous to use the optical device on silicon than to use other materials in the reduction in size of an optical transceiver. Further, since the optical device on silicon is easily integrated with an electronic circuit, it may be possible to integrate a large number of optical transceivers into one chip.
In particular, a modulator has, among other optical devices, properties that greatly affect power consumption and size of an optical transceiver. Specifically, a ring modulator itself is small, uses a small modulation voltage, and has a small optical loss, it is advantageous to use the ring modulator for the reduction in size and power consumption of an optical transceiver. However, a wavelength band of the ring modulator may be narrow.
For example, US Patent Publication No. 2009/0169149 (Patent Document 1) discloses a technology to match a wavelength of light input to a ring resonator and a resonant wavelength. In this technology, output of monitor light is detected, and a heater is controlled based on a monitor current. The monitor current is fed back to the heater to adjust a temperature of the ring resonator, and the resonant wavelength is shifted so as to be consistent with the wavelength of the input light.
FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a monitor current feedback ring modulator. Modulation signals supplied via a driver circuit to modulation electrodes 1004 and 1005 change a resonant wavelength of a ring resonator 1003. Light input to a waveguide 1001 is output to a waveguide 1002 if the light resonates with the ring resonator 1003. Light input to a waveguide 1001 is supplied as monitor light to a photodetector (PD) if the light does not resonate with the ring resonator 1003. The monitor current output from the photodetector is supplied to a heater 1007 via a feedback circuit. The heater 1007 is controlled such that the monitor current becomes minimum.
When modulation efficiency is attempted to be increased by using the ring modulator, the transmittance close to the resonant wavelength may dramatically change with respect to the wavelength of input light. As a result, slight shift of the wavelength from the resonant wavelength may lead to an area exhibiting no transmittance change. The same applies to the monitor current. When the wavelength of the input light slightly separates from the resonant wavelength, a change in the monitor current due to the wavelength change cannot be detected, which makes it difficult to perform wavelength control using the heater. That is, it may be difficult to simultaneously achieve improvement of the efficiency of the modulation by enhancing the resonance and wide-range wavelengths.

Optical semiconductor device and optical semiconductor device control method


A memory cell for storing data having at least three logic states includes a pair of storage devices and third-level storage and refresh circuitry coupled to a pair of storage nodes. The storage devices maintain multi-level signals representative of first and second logic states at the pair of storage nodes. To store a third logic state, the third-level storage and refresh circuitry maintain the multi-level signals at both storage nodes at substantially equal intermediate levels.

More sophisticated technology has created a heightened demand for smaller, faster semiconductor devices incorporating an ever increasing number of components. An area of special interest is semiconductor memory devices, such as a random access memory ("RAM"), having greater storage capacity.
Typically, to increase the storage capacity of memory devices, a greater number of individual memory cells, as well as the additional components required to access the added cells, are incorporated. Because available area within a memory device is at a premium, the physical layout of the components must become more compact and the physical dimensions of each component must be decreased to prevent the overall dimensions of the memory devices from becoming excessively large. However, the ability to continue to decrease physical parameters is limited.
The need to increase storage capacity within the bounds of such physical constraints is especially critical in static RAM ("SRAM") devices in which a typical memory cell includes two cross-coupled storage devices coupled to a pair of complementary storage nodes which are accessed by two pass transistors coupled to complementary bit lines. The pass transistors have gate electrodes coupled to a word line. A signal, such as an address or SELECT signal, is provided on the word line associated with the memory cell to select or access the memory cell. Once selected via the word line, the memory cell can be read or written to through the pass transistors via the bit lines.
Such memory cells generally store only two logic states, thus severely limiting the storage capacity of the memory device. The first logic state is typically represented by a HIGH level signal stored at a first storage node and a LOW level signal stored at the second, complementary storage node. Similarly, the second logic state is represented by a LOW level signal stored at the first storage node and a HIGH level signal stored at the second, complementary storage node.
A memory cell capable of storing more than two logic states can increase the storage capacity of a memory device without requiring a corresponding increase in the number of individual memory cells and which may decrease the amount of layout area needed on the semiconductor substrate. Accordingly, rather than looking solely to component dimensions and component layout to increase storage capacity, a need exists for a memory cell capable of storing more than two logic states.

Memory cell for storing at least three logic states


A resistance measuring device includes: a first jig; a plurality of first contacts; a second jig; a plurality of second contacts; a resistance measuring unit that supplies a current between a first contact and a second contact, which correspond to each other, detects a voltage between a first contact and a second contact, and calculates a resistance value of an object to be measured based on a relationship between a value of the supplied current and a value of the detected voltage; first wirings connecting the resistance measuring unit and each of the first contacts, for the first contacts, respectively; and second wirings connecting the resistance measuring unit and each of the second contacts while passing from the resistance measuring unit through the first jig, for the second contacts, respectively.

Conventionally, there is known a resistance measuring device that brings a plurality of contacts into contact with one surface and the other surface of an object to be measured, supplies a current between contacts corresponding to each other to detect a voltage between the contacts, and calculates a resistance value of the object to be measured based on a relationship between a value of the supplied current and a value of the detected voltage. According to the conventional technique, wirings respectively connected to the corresponding contacts are arranged separately.
When the wirings respectively connected to the corresponding contacts are separately arranged as in the background art described above, the degree of electromagnetic influence from the outside differs for each wiring. For this reason, when noise is generated due to an external factor, the magnitude of the noise differs for each wiring, which becomes a factor that decreases measurement accuracy.

Resistance measuring device and resistance measuring jig


An ophthalmic optical apparatus having an alignment optical system comprises two conical optical elements for forming an alignment light beam into a ring-shaped collimated light beam centered on an optical axis and directing it to a focusing optical system, an in-focus state is determined based on a light pattern formed by the focusing optical system from the ring-shaped collimated light beam on an object plane.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an ophthalmic optical apparatus for observing and treating an eye, and more particularly to an ophthalmic optical apparatus having an alignment optical system for treating the eye.
2. Related Background Art
For a series of ophthalmic diseases including, inter alia, retina disease, a high density laser radiation or a so-called photo-coagulation laser is used to treat a diseased part and it is irradiated to the diseased part as a light spot. An irradiation output, an irradiation time and a spot size of the photo-coagulation laser are varied depending on a photo-coagulation operation to a particular diseased part. It is very important to focus the photo-coagulation laser to the diseased part, and to this end a proper alignment system is required. In a prior art alignment system, an alignment beam to be used for the alignment is split into two or more light beams which are collected and combined to attain exact focusing.
For example, in an ophthalmic optical apparatus (laser photo-coagulation apparatus) for observation and treatment which uses a laser, disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,499,897, particularly in FIG. 5 thereof, an alignment laser beam 22 which is a visible ray generated by a laser oscillator 21 in the laser photo-coagulation apparatus 20 is split into two parallel light beams 22a and 22b by a pair of semi-transmissive prisms (beam splitter) 23, and those light beams pass through a first beam splitter (dichroic mirror) 24, are reflected by a ring-shaped outer periphery of a second beam splitter (dichroic mirror) 25 and directed to an object (an eye of a patient), not shown, through a focusing lens 26 so that they are focused on the object plane.
In this case, an in-focus state is attained at a point where the two light beams 22a and 22b coincide. When they are focused on the object plane, one spot pattern h is formed, and when they are not focused, two spot patterns g and i are formed.
On the other hand, a photo-coagulation light 29 for treatment which is generated by another laser oscillator 28 passes through a beam expander 30 so that it is expanded to a light beam having a diameter which is slightly smaller than a gap between the two alignment light beams 22a and 22b. The expanded photo-coagulation light is reflected by the first beam splitter (dichroic mirror) 24, follows the same light path as that of the alignment laser beam 22, is further reflected by the second beam splitter 25 and is directed to the object through the focusing lens 26 so that it is focused at the coincident point of the two beams 22a and 22b of the alignment laser beams 22, that is, at the same point as the point on the object plane at which the spot pattern h is formed.
In the laser photo-coagulation apparatus 20, the prism 23 is rotated so that the two light beams 22a and 22b are rotated around an optical axis of the photo-coagulation light 29. When the photo-coagulation light 29 is generated by the laser oscillator 28 after the in-focus state has been confirmed, the photo-coagulation light 29 follows the same light path as that of the alignment laser beam 22 and it is focused at the same point as the point on the object plane at which the spot pattern h of the alignment laser beam 22 is formed in the in-focus state so that the diseased part is treated.
In the prior art ophthalmic optical apparatus (laser photo-coagulation apparatus) for observation and treatment, since the two alignment light beams 22a and 22b which go along the outer periphery of the photo-coagulation light 29 are rotated around the optical axis of the photo-coagulation light 29, the construction is complex, a relatively long time is required for the alignment, the process to generate the photo-coagulation light 29 is complex and a long time is required for the treatment.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,917,486 discloses a laser photo-coagulation apparatus in which, instead of rotating the two alignment light beams, a mask having four apertures centered at an optical axis and arranged at an angular pitch of 90.degree. is provided on an alignment light path of a collimated light beam, the four collimated light beams transmitted through the apertures of the mask are used as the alignment light beams which go along the outer periphery of the treatment light beam, and the in-focus state on the object plane is determined by the coincidence state of the four spot patterns formed by the four light beams.
However, in the laser photo-coagulation apparatus disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,917,486, only those portions of the light generated by the alignment light source which are transmitted through the four apertures formed in the mask can be used as the alignment light beams and hence energy is wasted.
In the alignment system of the prior art laser photo-coagulation apparatus, the light beam is split into two or four parallel alignment light beams by the prism and they form the predetermined spot pattern at the in-focus state to permit the detection of the in-focus state. However, the position precision of the prism is hard to attain. Further, the entire construction of the optical system is complex and the prism cost is expensive.

Ophthalmic optical apparatus having an alignment optical system


A method of forming a semiconductor device, where the method may include forming a first trench in a semiconductor substrate, forming first device isolation patterns that fill the first trench, forming spacers on sidewalls of the first device isolation patterns, forming a second trench in the semiconductor substrate between first device isolation patterns, and forming second device isolation patterns that fill the second trench. The second trench is formed using an etching process adopting the first device isolation pattern and the spacer as a mask.

1. Field of the Invention
Most electronic appliances include semiconductor devices. The semiconductor devices include electronic elements such as a transistor, a resistor and a capacitor. The electronic elements are integrated on a semiconductor substrate after being designed for performing a partial function of the electronic appliances. For example, electronic appliances such as a computer or a digital camera include a memory chip for storing information and a processing chip for controlling information. The memory chip and the processing chip include the electronic elements integrated on the semiconductor substrate.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the meantime, the semiconductor devices are required to be highly integrated to meet a good performance and a low price which users expect. Conventionally, for high integration, a method of decreasing sizes of the electronic elements constituting the semiconductor devices was adopted. However, due to various technical limitations (in particular, a photolithography technical limit) during a manufacturing process of the semiconductor device, the method of decreasing sizes of the electronic elements has slowly progressed. Accordingly, a new method of forming a semiconductor device which can overcome the above technical limitations is needed to achieve the required high integration of the semiconductor device.
A double patterning technique is recently introduced as a technique that may satisfy the above technical requirement. The double patterning technique is a technique that mask patterns to form n number of patterns which are alternately arranged and are independently formed through two patterning steps. A first mask pattern and a second mask pattern are used as masks to form respective 2i-th patterns and 2i+1-th patterns (i=0˜n/2). However, according to this method, the 2ith patterns and the 2i+1-th patterns may be formed to have different line widths and that may cause even-odd failure which degrades uniformity of an electrical characteristic of a semiconductor device.


A backlight module (5) includes a light guide plate (56) having an incident surface (563), a frame (55) for accommodating the light guide plate, and a light source (59) accommodated in the frame and disposed adjacent to the incident surface. The frame includes at least one elastic element (5556) urging the light guide plate, thus keeping the incident surface in contact with the light source.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a backlight module and a liquid crystal display (LCD) using the same.
2. General Background
LCDs are flat-panel displays which have excellent features including high resolution, physical thinness, light weight, and low power consumption. Their market size has expanded recently with improvements in display performance and production capacity as well as improvements in price competitiveness against other types of display devices.
A typical LCD is represented in FIG. 6. The LCD 300 includes a flexible printed circuit board (FPC) 310, a liquid crystal display panel 320, a frame 330, two light emitting diodes (LEDs) 340 cooperatively serving as a light source, and a light guide plate 400.
The FPC 310 includes a circuit region 311, and a light source accommodating region 312 for accommodating the two light sources 340. The circuit region 311 is electrically connected with the liquid crystal display panel 320. The accommodating region 312 is a strip portion extending from the circuit region 311. The frame 330 includes a depressed portion 331 having two cavities 332.
The LCD 300 is assembled according to the following steps. First, the light guide plate 400 is placed in the frame 330. Second, the accommodating region 312 with the two light sources 340 is placed in the depressed portion 331 of the frame 330, with the two LEDs 340 being received respectively in the two cavities 332. Third, the circuit region 311 of the FPC 310 is folded behind the frame 340 and the light guide plate 400. Finally, the liquid crystal display panel 320 is placed on the light guide plate 400, whereby the accommodating region 312 is sandwiched between the liquid crystal display panel 320 and the frame 330.
The liquid crystal display 300 has the following problems. First, due to limitations in manufacturing precision, the sizes of the cavities 332 are not exactly the same as those of the light sources 340. Consequently, gaps exist between the light sources 340 and the light guide plate 400, which affects the brightness of the light guide plate 400. Second, because the FPC 310 is bent, and the accommodating region 312 extends from the circuit region 311, the accommodating region 312 tends to be uneven. This results in a light emitting surface of each light source 340 facing an incident surface of the light guide plate 400 at an oblique angle. The oblique angles can diminish the uniformity of light output by the light guide plate 400.
FIG. 7 is a graph showing the negative impact of the above mentioned gaps on the effective utilization of light by the light guide plate 400. X represents the distance between the LEDs 340 and the incident surface (not labeled) of the light guide plate 400 in millimeters (mm), and Y represents the relative emitting luminance of the light guide plate 400. It is can be seen that the greater the value of X, the lower the value of Y. That is, the greater the gap, the lower the value of the relative emitting luminance.
Therefore, a new backlight module and liquid crystal display that can overcome the above-described problems are desired.

Backlight module with urged light guide plate and liquid crystal display having same


System and method are devised to produce an optical recording medium suitable for identification and management. A recording layer formed in the optical recording medium is irradiated with writing light by a pickup. A visible image pattern suitable for identification, management or the like is formed on the optical recording medium by generating changes in optical characteristics of a portion irradiated with light and a portion not irradiated with light in the recording layer.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an information recording system provided with a function of recording visible information on an optical recording medium.
2. Description of the Prior Art
CDs (Compact Disk), DVDs (Digital Video Disk or Digital Versatile Disk) and so forth are known as optical recording media for optically recording or reproducing information. A write-once type disk and rewritable disk in which information can be recorded have also been developed, providing excellent convenience for users.
For example, a user can enjoy writing and editing contents data such as music, image or the like and creating his/her own disk having originality by utilizing these write-once type or rewritable disks. In addition, a user can create discs which offer greater convenience by writing computer program data needed for combining all their essential applications onto a single disc.
However, as the number of disks in use increases, a problem arises that it is difficult to pick up a desired disk from many disks or manage these disks due to the difficulty in identifying disks from their appearance.
Therefore, as shown in FIG. 1, a user can write characters or illustrations by using a writing tool on a side of a conventional disk which is not used for writing information, that is, the back side (hereinafter, referred to as label side) of a side irradiated with light beam for writing and reading information.
However, while the disk on which a user can write information as described above can provide excellent convenience to the user, technical backwardness remains that the easiest way to manage disks is to hand-write characters or illustrations for identification on a label side with a writing tool. When hand-written on a label side, the characters or illustrations may gradually fade away and become unclear or deteriorate appearance. Thus, development of a novel technique which substitutes for handwriting and can identify a disk at one glance as in the case of hand-written has been required.

Information recording system and information recording method


A method is disclosed whereby identification information can be encoded onto a plurality of circuit dice on a wafer to enable each of them to be distinguished from one another. An array of electrically readable identification elements, such as resistors, is disposed on each of the circuit dice during the circuit fabrication process. A first mask is then positioned over the each of the dice which completely covers all but the identification elements. A step and repeat mask is then selectively positioned over a particular element or elements in the array which identify a circuit die by its location on the wafer. The die is then exposed using a conventional step and repeat photolithographic process so that only the selected identification element or elements in the array will remain. The second mask is then stepped over the next circuit die on the wafer but is positioned over a different identification element or elements in the array. This process is repeated for all of the circuit dice on the wafer so that different identification elements remain for each circuit die to distinguish them from one another. Using the step and repeat process in this manner eliminates the necessity for individually coding the identification information into each of the circuit dice.

The present invention relates in general to a method for encoding identification, serialization, or other information on circuit dice during fabrication.
There is a need for providing identification and other types of information on circuit dice or chips. For example, it may be desireable or necessary in circuit parameter studies to monitor small shifts in the values of the various circuit parameters of a test die over time. In order to observe such shifts accurately, a particular test circuit die must be used for each measurement because the variation of the circuit parameters from die to die may be comparable to, or even larger than, the shifts that are to be monitored. Consequently, some means must be provided by which a particular circuit die can be identified. The use of visible or optically readable marks and codes is not generally suitable because the dice are encapsulated so that the marks or codes can not be seen. As a consequence, electrical identification of the dice is the only workable solution, especially for large volumes of parts processed in production, assembly and test facilities. The only other alternative is to maintain part identification with physical means, such as part carriers or identification bins, however, this solution is unworkable with large numbers of parts and the risk of misclassification is unacceptably high.
In technologies in which there are inherently built-in programmable structures, such as programmable memories, it is a rather straight forward procedure to use these available structures for encoding the identification information into the circuits. However, with other types of circuits that do not include any programmable structures, extra undesirable or even impossible fabrication steps are required to add them which could have an effect on the measured circuit parameters that would defeat the whole purpose of the parameter study. What is needed is a simple method for incorporating identification information into a circuit die during the fabricating of the die.

Method of encoding identification information on circuit dice using step and repeat lithography


An electronic device which comprises at least one interconnect, a semiconductor chip comprising at least one electric chip pad, an encapsulant structure packaging at least a part of the semiconductor chip, and an electrically conductive redistribution layer arranged between and electrically coupled with the at least one interconnect and the at least one chip pad, wherein the redistribution layer comprises at least one adjustment structure configured for adjusting radio frequency properties of a transition between the semiconductor chip and its periphery.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to electronic devices, and methods of manufacturing electronic arrangements and electronic devices.
2. Description of the Related Art
Embedded Wafer Level Ball Grid Array (eWLB) technology allows the realization of semiconductor devices with a high number of interconnects. The package is not realized on a silicon wafer as for classical Wafer Level Package, but on an artificial wafer. For this purpose, a front-end-processed wafer is diced and the singularized semiconductor chips are placed on a carrier. The distance between the semiconductor chips is typically larger than on the silicon wafer. The gaps and the edges around the semiconductor chips are filled with an embedding structure to form the artificial wafer. After curing, the artificial wafer containing an encapsulant frame around the semiconductor chips for carrying additional interconnect elements is realized. After the built of the artificial wafer, electrical connections from the chip pads to the interconnects are realized by a redistribution layer in thin-film technology.


A method of fabricating a tetra-state mask read only memory. A memory device is fabricated. Using a first photo-resist to dope the channel regions, a first coding step is performed to obtain a transistor having two different threshold voltage. Covering a gate oxide layer, and etching the first photo-resist layer to form a via, a buried bit line is formed. A poly-silicon layer is formed on the gate oxide layer. Doping the second poly-silicon layer by implanting ions to the source/drain regions, and using a second photo-resist layer, a second coding step is performed. An inverse transistor with two different threshold voltage is formed.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a method of fabricating an integrated circuit, and more particularly to a method of fabricating an integrated circuit with high density, such as a non-volatile multi-mask read only memory (ROM).
2. Field of the Related Art
Being restricted by the technical limit of designing a memory, to reduce the dimension of a memory device, the technique of process needs to be improved. The conventional ROM is assembled by an array of field effect transistor metal oxide semiconductors (FET MOS). Each memory cell comprises a single field effect device disposed at the intersection of a parallel conductive line buried in the substrate and a vertical conductive line formed on the substrate. The formation of each field effect transistor provides the choice between either of two predetermined values depending on the characteristics of transistor, such as the threshold voltage. By doping the channel region of a transistor, a higher threshold voltage is obtained. The transistor is not turned on by applying the voltage Vcc to the gate. On the contrary, with the undoped channel region, the transistor is turned on by the voltage Vcc applied to the gate. Binary data are stored into the memory cell by selectively doping the channel regions. That is, a logic "0" is stored in a transistor with a doped channel region, and a logic "1" lis stored in a transistor with an undoped channel region.
FIG. 1 is a top view of a region (including four memory cells) of a conventional mask ROM. Referring to FIG. 1, a mask ROM is formed on a substrate 10 having a P-type surface. The mask ROM comprises an array of parallel buried bit lines 12, 14 and 16 which are N-type bit lines formed by selectively doping the substrate 10, and an array of parallel word lines 18 and 20 expanding on the substrate 10. The array of word lines 18 and 20 is perpendicular to the array of bit lines 12, 14, and 16. In addition, a silicon oxide layer is formed between two word lines 18 and 20 for the purpose of isolation. Normally, in a mask ROM, a structure of sharing a word line is adapted. The bit lines 12, 14, and 16 are the source/drain regions of field effect transistors, whereas, the regions 22, 24, 26, and 28 connecting with the bit lines 12, 14, and 16 under the word lines 18 and 20 are the channel regions of field effects transistors.
FIG. 2 is a cross sectional view of a conventional ROM shown as 2-2' in FIG. 1. Referring to FIG. 2, to form a buried bit line, a proper mask (not shown on the figure) is used to cover the substrate 10. An N-type dopant is implanted into the substrate 10 to form bit lines 12, 14, and 16. The doped substrate 10 is then put into an environment of oxygen to activate the dopant within the bit lines 12, 14, and 16, and to form an oxide layer. The oxide layer comprises a thinner gate oxide layer 30 on the channel region 22 and 24, and a thicker oxide layer 32 covering the bit lines 12, 14, and 16. The thicker oxide layer 32 is formed because of the much larger oxidation diffusion rate of the heavily doped N-type dopant in the bit lines 12, 14 and 16 than the lightly doped P-type ions in the channel regions 22 and 24. After the formation of the thicker oxide layer 32, a doped poly-silicon layer is formed on the gate oxide layer 30 and the thicker oxide layer 32. The poly-silicon layer is then defined to form a gate electrode 18 of the field effect transistor. The gate electrode is used as a word line in the ROM.
As the size of the memory becomes smaller and smaller, the width of the buried bit lines becomes narrower and narrower. The space of the bit line also shrinks further. The smaller the bit line is, the larger the resistance is obtained. Thus, the speed to access the data in a ROM is slower. The dimension of a transistor is limited in the consideration of access speed. On the other hand, the conventional multi-state method of fabricating a ROM is very complex. Moreover, it is difficult to control the dosage for the formation of different threshold voltage, and therefore, it is difficult to obtain a larger data storage.

Method of fabricating tetra-state mask read only memory


The present invention is directed to methods and systems for taking measurements relating to subterranean formations. The methods and systems effectively compress data and thus facilitate more efficient data transmission. The methods and systems are capable of automatically varying data compression rates during a measurement operation. The variable data compression capability facilitates reliable collection of measurement data at faster and/or constant logging speeds. The data compression methods and systems may be applied to any measurement operation relating to subterranean formations, including, but not limited to: acoustic wireline logging measurements, acoustic logging-while-drilling measurements, electromagnetic measurements, nuclear magnetic resonance measurements, and resistivity measurements.

The investigation of subterranean formations is a common occurrence in oil and gas exploration and production operations. Methods and tools for investigating subsurface formations have advanced considerably over the years. There are many commercially available acoustic, nuclear, electromagnetic, and resistance tools that provide a variety of information about formations adjacent to a borehole. For example, some recent wireline sonic logging tools can achieve full formation characterization.
For sonic logging tools, one of the important improvements in formation evaluation has been the increase in the number receivers and transmitters. Some current sonic logging tools have dozens of receivers or more, which are located both longitudinally and azimuthally around a receiver sonde. In addition, some sonic tools include multiple monopole and dipole sources, each capable of firing pulses at different frequencies. These advances in hardware have proven important for a better understanding of formations surrounding boreholes, especially for complex environments such as altered or anisotropic formations. Such complex environments require the collection and transmission of very large amounts of data.
However, the tradeoff for better formation evaluation during recent years is reduced logging speed. Transmitting large amounts of data often requires a decrease in logging speed. Communication bandwidth is limited, especially in a subterranean measurement environment. Therefore, the limiting factor in many subterranean measurement operations is the communication capability. Accordingly, in order to send the large amounts of data generated by recent formation measurement systems, slower measurement-taking speeds are required, and slower measurement-taking speeds result in longer operations and increased rig time. Longer operations and increased rig time result in additional expenses. Consequently, there is a need for data compression methods and systems to enable more efficient communication between subterranean measurement tools and surface apparatus.
The present invention is directed to overcoming, or at least reducing the effects of, one or more of the problems outlined above.


In a level conversion circuit mounted in an integrated circuit device using a plurality of high- and low-voltage power supplies, the input to the differential inputs are provided. In a level-down circuit, MOS transistors that are not supplied with 3.3 V between the gate and drain and between the gate and source use a thin oxide layer. In a level-up circuit, a logic operation function is provided.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to semiconductor integrated circuit devices and level conversion circuits, and more particularly, to semiconductor integrated circuit devices in which a plurality of circuit units driven by a plurality of different power supply voltages are formed on a single substrate, and to level conversion circuits used in the semiconductor integrated circuit devices.
2. Description of the Related Art
The trend in manufacturing semiconductor integrated circuit devices (such as large-scale integrated circuit devices) is to use lower power supply voltages to reduce power consumption. Recent integrated circuit devices are driven by 1.2 V power supplies, even though input/output units (I/O units), the interfaces with circuits driven by an external 3.3 V power supply, are also driven by a 3.3 V power supply.
Additionally, a single semiconductor chip may have two or more circuit blocks that are driven by different respective supply voltages. Such circuit blocks require level conversion circuits for raising or lowering voltage levels between circuit blocks having different respective supply voltages. FIG. 1(a) schematically illustrates a circuit diagram of a conventional level-down circuit (a circuit for converting a large-amplitude signal output by a circuit block operating on a 3.3 V power supply, for example, into a small-amplitude signal for input to a circuit block operating on a 1.2 V power supply, for example), and FIG. 2(a) schematically illustrates a conventional level-up circuit (a circuit for converting a small-amplitude signal output by a circuit block operating on a 1.2 V power supply, for example, into a large-amplitude signal for input to a circuit block operating on a 3.3 V power supply, for example).
In FIG. 1(a), VDDQ represents a 3.3 V input, VDD is a 1.2 V power supply, and VSS a reference, or ground, potential. Thus, VDDQ is a large-amplitude signal, and the output is a small-amplitude signal based upon the VDD potential.
In FIG. 1(a), a P-type MOS (PMOS) transistor 200 and an N-type MOS (NMOS) transistor 201 are shown, connected to receive on their respective gates an input IN0 having an amplitude of 0.0 V when low and 3.3 V when high, for example. IN0 is thus considered to be a large-amplitude signal input. The circuit shown in FIG. 1(a) outputs a small-amplitude signal out0 having an output value of 1.2 V, for example, based upon the power supply VDD. FIG. 1(b) illustrates the respective waveforms of IN0 and out0.
Since, in the PMOS transistor 200 and NMOS transistor 201, a maximum voltage of 3.3 V may be applied between gate and source, PMOS transistor 200 and NMOS transistor 201 are formed with a thick gate oxide layer.
In FIG. 2(a), the level-up circuit is constituted by PMOS transistors 202, 203 and NMOS transistors 204, 205. Small-amplitude input signals in in0 and in0b are complementary dual rail signals. Output signal OUT0 is a large-amplitude output signal of, for example, 3.3 V, based upon power supply VDDQ. MOS transistors 202-205 each have a thick gate oxide layer similar to that of the MOS transistors 200, 201 of FIG. 1(a). FIG. 2(b) illustrates the respective waveforms of input signals in in0, in0b and output signal OUT0.
In a conventional level-down circuit such as that shown in FIG. 1(a), the logic threshold is typically VDD/2, or close to 0.6 V. Large-amplitude input signals, because their amplitudes are relatively large, generally tend to produce noise of a type such that the ground level fluctuates. When the ground level fluctuates more than 0.6 V, the signal is judged erroneously to be a high level in the circuit of FIG. 1(a), resulting in a low-level output at out0. Hence, in the conventional level-down circuit, as the VDD supply decreases in voltage, the logic threshold becomes lower, and an incorrect logic value may be produced at the output out0 in the presence of even very small noise.
In the level-up circuit of FIG. 2(a), when the VDDQ power supply is on but the input power VDD is off, the values of in0 and in0b are undefined, causing a through-current to flow between VDDQ and VSS. Hence, in a system where VDD is produced from VDDQ by a DC-DC converter, a heavy load is exerted on the VDDQ power supply, causing a phenomenon, in which the VDD power supply cannot be turned on. If the VDD power supply cannot be turned on, in0 and in in0b remain undefined, leaving the system permanently unable to start normally.
Not only when the power is turned on, but while the VDDQ power supply is on, it is impossible to cut off the VDD power supply because the cutoff of the VDD power renders the values of in0 and in0b undefined, causing a through-current to flow through the VDDQ and resulting in a significant increase in power consumption by the system.
Furthermore, the conventional input/output circuit unit that includes an output buffer circuit unit also has a similar problem to that discussed above with respect to the level conversion circuit unit. When the VDDQ power supply is turned on but the VDD power is not, the input signal value of the output buffer of the input/output circuit becomes undefined, causing a through-current to flow between VDDQ and VSS of the output buffer circuit.

Level conversion circuit and semiconductor integrated circuit device employing the level conversion circuit


A method and apparatus for reducing a vibratory response in a structure using a tuning object. A selected mass may be identified for the tuning object. A plurality of channels may be formed in a workpiece having a mass greater than the selected mass to form the tuning object having the selected mass. The tuning object may be bonded to the structure using an adhesive bond to reduce the vibratory response of the structure.

1. Field
The present disclosure relates generally to rotorcraft and, in particular, to the rotor blades of a rotorcraft. Still more particularly, the present disclosure relates to an apparatus and method for tuning the vibratory response of a rotor blade using a tuning object having a plurality of channels.
2. Background
Rotorcraft, such as, for example, without limitation, helicopters, may use rotor blades to generate lift. In some cases, the lift generated by these rotor blades may be varied by changing the twist of each of the rotor blades. However, increasing the twist of each of these rotor blades may cause an increased vibratory response. In other words, increasing the twist of the rotor blades may cause the rotor blades and/or other portions of the rotorcraft to vibrate more than desired. These vibrations may have undesirable effects on the rotorcraft and/or its occupants.
Some currently available solutions for reducing this vibratory response include adhesively bonding one or more objects of known mass to each of the rotor blades at one or more specific locations within the rotor blade. These objects may be referred to as tuning masses or, in some cases, tuning weights. The amount of mass added to a rotor blade and the location at which that mass is added may be selected such that the vibratory response of the rotor blade is "tuned" to within selected tolerances.
As one illustrative example, a plurality of cylindrically shaped objects, each having the same mass, may be bonded to the nose area of a rotor blade. The nose area may be near the leading edge of the rotor blade. However, the number of objects needed to achieve the desired reduction in vibratory response may be greater than desired. For example, without limitation, keeping track of these objects during installation of these objects may become more and more difficult as the number of objects used increases. Further, as the number of objects needed increases, the manufacturing of these objects may become more time-consuming and/or require more effort than is desirable.
In some cases, a single tuning mass may be adhesively bonded to the rotor blade. However, the shear stresses formed within the adhesive bond between the tuning mass and the rotor blade may be greater than desired when the tuning mass is installed at certain locations within the rotor blade. These shear stresses may cause undesired inconsistencies to occur within the adhesive bond and/or may cause the adhesive bond to separate from the tuning mass and/or the rotor blade. Therefore, it would be desirable to have a method and apparatus that takes into account at least some of the issues discussed above, as well as other possible issues.

Apparatus and method for tuning a vibratory response of a rotor blade


A digital audio broadcast channel is used in accordance with the principles of the present invention to broadcast local content information signals included with an associated geographically identifying code (e.g., a zip code) for reception only by those receivers associated with the geographically identifying code. Preferably, local content broadcasts containing audible information are preferably compressed for transmission to increase the capacity of the channel. A disclosed receiver monitors received signals for active local broadcasting relating to that particular locality, and switches to the reception of that local content information signal instead of the normal mode of reception of a general broadcast information signal for the duration of the local content information signal. Preferably, the unique local broadcast identifier code is contained in a header of the transmitted data packets. General broadcast content information and local content information can be received substantially simultaneously such that the audio signals relating to the general broadcast content and the local content are superimposed on one another, or reception of the local information may preempt reception of general broadcast information.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to digital audio broadcast systems. More particularly, it relates to the inclusion and transmission of local information for each of a plurality of localities within a channel of a larger scale broadcast transmission.
2. Background of Related Art
Various methods of broadcasting signals are known. For instance, a number of attempts have been made to simultaneously broadcast similar copies of the same source material on different frequencies or channels, e.g., both in digital form, and/or one in digital form and one in analog form. This technique can be advantageously employed for non-commercial broadcasts such as cellular phone transmissions, e.g., to provide for backward compatibility and/or signal redundancy, as well as for commercial broadcasts such as digital television (DTV) or radio services such as FM.
For instance, FIG. 5 depicts a conventional method of simultaneously broadcasting two digital copies of the same source material along with an older standard analog waveform. In the shown example, the broadcast includes two digital audio broadcast signals A and B and one analog broadcast signal C transmitted in the same band on the same channel, otherwise known in the United States as an In-Band On-Channel (IBOC) Digital Audio Broadcast (DAB) or hybrid IBOC.
In the disclosed example, the hybrid IBOC DAB signal 600 includes a center band containing a first, analog copy of the source material, an upper band A containing a first digital copy of the same source material, and a lower band B containing a second digital copy of the same source material.
The use of both an analog broadcast signal C and digital broadcast signals A, B improves system reliability and/or backward compatibility by allowing the capability for both analog and digital receivers to receive and interpret at least one copy of the source material. In many cases, this provides backwards compatibility to analog systems as systems are replaced with more advanced digital counterpart systems. While FIG. 5 shows a single channel containing DAB information, FIG. 6 shows that both digital broadcast signals A and B (as well as analog broadcast signal C) are typically transmitted at the same time.
Many homes, offices and automobiles currently receive digital audio broadcast (DAB) information, which is broadcast by transmission to many receivers spread over a wide geographic region. Present terrestrial digital audio broadcast systems allow coverage over a finite distance from a broadcast transmitter, e.g., typically 10 to 70 miles from the broadcast transmitter. Thus, many broadcast transmitters are required to cover a large geographic area. In such systems, if the receiver is mobile, e.g., an automobile radio, the received signal will eventually fade out as the mobile receiver moves farther from the antenna of the broadcast transmitter, requiring the receiving party to retune their receiver to the broadcast frequency of another transmitter.
Such disadvantages can be overcome with the use of a wide area transmitter, e.g., a transponder located in a satellite in orbit around the earth. In this way, one or more satellites are able to provide fairly continuous coverage over a large scale area, e.g., over an entire nation. Similarly, another technique for transmitting digital audio broadcast information utilizes wired cable found in most homes can also overcome disadvantages of terrestrial radio frequency (RF) broadcasts. However, some disadvantages still remain and new disadvantages are caused in both satellite and cable digital audio broadcast systems.
For instance, there are often times in a digital audio broadcast system wherein it would be desirable or important to transmit local information relevant to persons in a particular locality. For instance, information such as local news, weather and/or traffic reports may be particularly relevant to persons in some localities and irrelevant and a even a nuisance if received by persons in other localities. Localized terrestrial wireless systems were able to accommodate this need to a certain extent because of the relatively small service area for any one transmitter. However, with the emergence and prevalence of satellite systems and cable systems, any one channel is broadcast throughout a very large geographic region containing a large number of localities.
FIG. 7A shows a conventional DAB transmitter for transmitting both local audio content and general broadcast audio content using separate channels of a transmission medium.
In particular, a signal based on the program content from a local audio content source 210 is provided to a first channel of a transmitter 814. The audio content is digitized if in analog form, and packetized and otherwise formatted for transmission by a module which packetizes and constructs header information 812, which is under the control of a controller 820. The formatting performed by the packetizer and header information module 812 includes functions of any appropriate protocol, e.g., a broadcast protocol such as simple time division multiplex framing protocols, or an unacknowledged UDP protocol commonly used for streaming media applications, to allow for proper transmission of program content signals to appropriate receivers in the broadcast area.
To transmit both general broadcast information and local broadcast information, the conventional DAB transmitter 814 utilizes separate channels. Thus, information from a general audio content source 800 is transmitted in a second channel of the transmitter 804. A packetizer and header information module 802 with respect to the general broadcast information properly formats that information for general broadcast to all receivers tuned to the general broadcast frequency. Unfortunately, in conventional systems, to receive a local content information source a receiver must tune to another channel dedicated throughout the general broadcast area to the transmission of local content information relevant only to a particular locality.
FIG. 7B shows a conventional DAB receiver for receiving either the local audio content or general broadcast audio content transmitted by the conventional DAB transmitter shown in FIG. 7A.
In FIG. 7B, the receiver is capable of tuning or selecting content information from either the general broadcast channel of a receiver 702 or from a local broadcast channel of the receiver 704. This tunability is functionally depicted as a switch 711 and controlled by a controller 706. The user of the receiver can inform the controller 706 as to which channel is desired, i.e., the general broadcast channel of the receiver 702 or any one of a large plurality of local broadcast channels of the receiver 704. The selected broadcast content information is properly assembled and prepared for playback in analog form by a broadcast information digital-to-analog converter 708, appropriately amplified by an audio player 710, and output on a speaker 712.
Unfortunately, in conventional DAB systems, the provision of both general broadcast information and local information for each of a large number of localities requires separate channels for each, i.e., a separate channel for each stream of local content information. This dedicated use of additional digital audio broadcast channels for the transmission of local information to all receivers, whether or not the receiver is in the locality to which the information pertains, is wasteful of bandwidth throughout the general broadcast area. Moreover, the provision of local information relevant to other localities as well as the one that the receiver is in may confuse a user outside of the intended locality. For instance, if a tornado warning is issued on a local weather broadcast intended only for a particular locality, but a receiver in another locality tunes into the dedicated channel carrying the local content information regarding the tornado, the user may not understand that the warning does not apply to their viewing or listening (i.e., reception) area.
There is thus a need for a digital audio broadcast method and apparatus which allows transmission of information relevant to particular locations without wasting valuable channels, and without the potential for causing confusion to users receiving local information intended for access by receivers in another locality.

Digital audio broadcast system with local information


A sound warning circuit for PCI hot plug basically comprises: a timer that takes as inputs a fixed frequency clock and the system port B's bit 0, and which controls the system; a logic AND gate that takes as inputs the timer output and the system port B's bit 1; a speaker driver that takes as an input the AND gate's output; and a speaker that operates based on the speaker driver. In a further embodiment, the timer takes as inputs a fixed frequency clock and either the system port B's bit 0 or a PCI card VDD input, while the AND gate takes as inputs the timer output and any one or more of the system port B's bit 1, a chassis ground cable 0 input, and a chassis ground cable 1 input. In a further embodiment, the AND gate takes as inputs the timer output and either the system port B's bit 1 input or the output of a D Flip-Flop, the latter having the chassis ground cable signal as an input and receiving a reset signal from an AND gate, the latter having as inputs a reset switch input and a system reset # input.

1. Technical Field
This invention relates to a sound warning circuit for a Peripheral Components Interconnects (PCI) hot plug. In particular, in the circuit, the speaker warns the user when the user mistakenly accesses another adapter card while executing the PCI hot plug.
2. Related Art
The PCI hot plug system manages the adapter card in the PCI slot that controls the computer's auxiliary equipment. Researched by numerous companies, the PCI system can renew the adapter card to a new version while the system is operating and, when damage to the adapter card is discovered, can change to a new adapter card.
The user gives a command to use the computer's system port B. After the system creates the environment for PCI hot plug, it exchanges the adapter card.
Even when the entire system crashes because another, unprepared adapter card is accessed mistakenly by a user, a method to sense this has not been developed to the present day.
In addition, a PCI hot plug is possible only when power to the input/output board and to the PCI card is off. Therefore, there is a need for the development of a method to determine whether the applicable card's power is off when the PCI hot plug is readied according to the system's command.
The following patents are considered to be representative of the prior art, and are burdened by the disadvantages set forth herein: U.S. Pat. No. 5,712,754 to Sides et al., entitled Hot Plug Protection System, U.S. Pat. No. 5,649,162 to Klein et al., entitled local Bus Interface, U.S. Pat. No. 5,701,483 to Pun, entitled Data Access Implementation Of Device Driver Interface, U.S. Pat. No. 5,689,660 to Johnson et al., entitled Enhanced Peripheral Component Interconnect Bus Protocol, U.S. Pat. No. 5,533,204 to Tipley, entitled Split Transaction Protocol For The Peripheral Component Interconnect Bus, U.S. Pat. No. 5,502,824 to Heil, entitled Peripheral Component Interconnect "Always On" Protocol, U.S. Pat. No. 5,455,915 to Coke, entitled Computer System With Bridge Circuitry Having Input/Output Multiplexers And Third Direct Unidirectional Path For Data Transfer Between Buses Operating At Different Rates, U.S. Pat. No. 5,446,869 to Padgett et al., entitled Configuration And RAM/ROM Control Of PCI Extension Card Residing On MCA Adapter Card, U.S. Pat. No. 5,426,740 to Bennett, entitled Signaling Protocol For Concurrent Bus Access In A Multiprocessor System, U.S. Pat. No. 5,740,376 to Carson et al., entitled Signaling Protocol For A Peripheral Component Interconnect, U.S. Pat. No. 5,737,544 to Wszolek, entitled Link System Controller Interface Linking A PCI Bus To Multiple Other Buses, U.S. Pat. No. 5,734,847 to Garbus et al., entitled Method And Apparatus For Enabling Intelligent I/O Subsystems Using PCI I/O Devices, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,732,226 to Wszolek et al., entitled Apparatus For Granting Either A CPU Data Bus Or A Memory Data Bus Or A Memory Data Bus Access To A PCI Bus.


An article of footwear comprising a sliding eyelet apparatus comprising a flexible track comprising at least one groove and at least one track, and a lace carrier comprising a lever comprising at least one tooth to engage said groove, a spring; and a slider comprising a rail to engage said flexible track.

A. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed toward footwear. More particularly, the invention relates to an adjustable sliding eyelet for footwear and a method of manufacture of same. The design, configuration, and location of a sliding eyelet may vary significantly and still be within the scope of the present invention.
B. Description of the Related Art
The sport shoe industry is currently enjoying great success in the consumer environment. This explosion may be attributed to a trend of ever-increasing sophistication in the products. In recent years, running shoes have been customized to fit a great many number of activities (e.g., skiing, hiking, trail running, distance running, etc.), each requiring its own performance criteria. Design considerations also may vary based on upon such criteria as gender, durability, and aesthetics.
These variable considerations have led a large spectrum of performance highly-specialized footwear, wherein each specific design may be directed toward a specific situation. For instance, short distance runners may concentrate on comfort, whereas long distance runners may prioritize low weight and streamlined design. Similarly, competitive runners may have different performance criteria than recreational runners. In each case, using a shoe designed specifically for another purpose may have negative consequences on performance, and even the runner's health.
Referring to FIG. 1, a conventional shoe construction is shown. Boot 110 may includes an outsole 112, midsole 114, shank 116, and shell 118. Heel cushion 120 and forefoot cushion 122 may be disposed between an insole 124 and shell 118. An upper 126 also is provided, and optionally may include lacing 128. Preferably, shank 116 is disposed in a recess 114a in midsole 114, while cushions 120, 122 are disposed in recesses in insole 124.
In this exemplary embodiment, outsole 112 is formed of carbon rubber, while midsole 114 is formed of molded ethyl vinyl acetate foam. Shank 116 may be formed of thermoplastic polyurethane, while upper 126 may be formed of leather, fabric textiles, foam and other suitable insulation. The various polymer components may be coupled to each other with an adhesive or other bonding agent, while upper 126 may be coupled to shell 118, for example, using stitching proximate the lower edge of leather portion 130 of upper 126.
Skiing is a sport which may require different design considerations than that of trail running. For example, in skiing, it is beneficial to provide the skier as close a fit as possible between the ski boot and the foot of the skier. This secure fit allows the skier to better direct and distribute forces at play (e.g., gravity, the skier's weight etc.).
To secure such a fit, a boot fastener (e.g., laces) is often used. However, problems may arise with the inability of a boot fastener to properly secure the foot generally, and yet allow for micro-adjustments of the boot's fit where necessary. For example, many ski boots are secured with a lace that is tied in a knot above the shin. In these cases, the fit of the boot is typically more secure near the shin than, for example, the midfoot. While the secure fit near the shin may be optimal to prevent shin and ankle injuries, the relatively looser fit near the midfoot may hamper performance. In sum, conventional fasteners typically offer only monolithic adjustment ("macro-adjustment") in that they do not allow for particularized, localized fitting adjustments.


A thermal battery has an electrolyte-cathode layer; an anode layer adjacent he electrolyte-cathode layer; a steel cell cover adjacent the anode layer; an insulating layer adjacent the steel cell cover, the insulating layer having a volume resistivity in the range of 10.sup.14 to 10.sup.17 ohm-centimeter and a decomposition temperature of less than 1400 degrees Centigrade; and a heat source adjacent the insulating layer. Preferably, the decomposition temperature is less than 300 degrees Centigrade. The insulating layer helps reduce pre-activation self discharge of the thermal battery.

The present invention relates in general to reducing the self discharge of thermal batteries, and in particular to reducing the self discharge of thermal batteries having a high conductivity electrolyte salt.
Thermal batteries that use the high conductivity electrolyte salt LiCl-LiBR-LiF eutectic are more subject to self discharge during their storage lifetimes than are the traditional thermal batteries that use the LiCl-KCl eutectic. For the traditional LiCl-KCl thermal batteries, the cold (unactivated) voltage is usually less than 10 millivolts for a nominal 30 volt battery when measured with a 10 megohm input meter. For LiCl-LiBr-LiF electrolyte thermal batteries, cold voltage measured during storage with a 10 megohm input is typically several volts and may be a substantial fraction (30 to 60 percent) of the activated voltage. The much larger cold voltage of LiCl-LiBr-LiF batteries may permit significantly more self discharge during storage for many fuze applications.

Thermal battery with reduced self-discharge

The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Army


A method of manufacturing a flat display panel having first and second substrates assembled in spaced relationship with a gap therebetween and joined together by a band of sealing material, formed in a frame configuration which may be rectangular, on the surface of the first substrate and adhering the first and second substrates together. A paste of the sealing material is dispensed from a nozzle moved along a route from a starting point displaced the frame configuration, thereby forming a starting segment extending from the starting point to the frame, along the route of the rectangular frame configuration and forming a central segment, and from the frame and to the ending point thereby forming an ending segment integral with the central segment, the ending point being displaced from the frame configuration and from the starting point. In one embodiment, the starting and ending segments are tapered, from smaller dimensions at the starting and ending points to greater dimensions, common with the central segment dimensions, and angularly cross each other in overlapped relationship at intermediate positions along the lengths thereof so as to be joined together, at a location displaced from the frame. In another embodiment, the starting and ending segments are displaced laterally so as to extend in parallel and spaced relationship and are joined together by fusing of their contiguous side surfaces.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of manufacturing a flat display panel and the resulting flat display panel, such as a plasma display panel or a liquid crystal panel, and, more particularly, to such a panel formed by adhering together a pair of substrates having electrodes and spacers, etc. formed thereon and which are assembled with a predetermined space, or gap, therebetween and sealed together along the respective peripheries, or circumferential portions, thereof.
Such a flat display panel requires precision components of highly accurate dimensions and configurations, such that the respective, opposed surfaces of the substrates are planar throughout and provide a uniform space therebetween and such that the respective circumferential portions of the substrates are properly aligned to enable accurate coating of a sealing material therebetween for reliably sealing the two substrates together.
2. Description of the Related Art
Sealing of the spaced substrates of the flat display panel is performed by coating a selected one of the substrates adjacent the circumference thereof with an elongated and continuous band, or bead, of a sealing material consisting of glass paste, etc., and then adhering the one substrate to the other substrate with the sealing material.
Known methods of coating the sealing material onto the selected substrate include a silk screen process, using a screen mask, to apply the band of sealing material in a pattern defined by the mask and a dispensing technique wherein the sealing material is dispensed from a nozzle as the nozzle is moved about the circumferential portion of the selected substrate thereby to deposit a narrow band, or bead, of the sealing material along the circumferential portion of the selected substrate. Dispensing of the sealing material from a nozzle is recognized as a preferred coating method, since more effective for realizing precision coating accuracy while also affording high speed processing. Therefore, the technique of dispensing material from a nozzle is employed in producing a plasma display panel having a large size, e.g., greater than a diagonal measurement of 30 inches, such as is utilized in a wall-mounted type television receiver.
FIGS. 7(a) and 7(b) are a plan view and a cross-sectional view, respectively, of a plasma display panel 30 comprising a lower glass substrate 31 and an upper glass substrate 32 which have been sealed together about their respective peripheries, or circumferential portions, by a band of sealing material 33 applied by the nozzle dispensing technique. The plasma display panel 30 is assembled and sealed subsequently to completion of prior steps, such as the formation of respective sets of electrodes on the opposed planar surfaces of the two glass substrates 31, 32. More particularly, a glass paste is applied as the band of sealing material 33 along a route, or path, adjacent to the circumferential portion of a selected glass substrate 31 and then the two glass substrates 31, 32 are adhered together using the bead of glass paste sealing material 31.
In the case of applying the glass paste sealing material by the nozzle dispensing technique, the glass paste is stored in a cylinder and dispensed via a nozzle onto the glass substrate. In the related art, as shown in FIG. 7(a), the coating process, and the band of coating material deposited thereby, typically begins at a point C adjacent the circumference of the glass substrate 31 and proceeds about the circumference in a continuous path along the route indicated by the arrows, to an ending point beyond the starting point C, and thus overlapping a beginning portion of the band of sealing material 33.
The coated glass paste bead then is solidified through a baking process--i.e., a heat treatment is performed under the condition that the two sheets of glass substrates 31, 32 are stacked in assembled relationship. The two glass substrates 31, 32 thus are adhered together and the gap therebetween is sealed by fusing a bead of the sealing material 33 thereto, and which has been solidified by the heat treatment.
The space between the two sheets of glass substrates 31, 32 then is evacuated to a specified vacuum condition by exhausting the air out of a through hole formed at a predetermined position in one of the glass substrates 31, 32; moreover, a selected discharge gas is injected into the gap, or discharge space, between the glass substrates 31, 32 to complete the plasma display panel, as shown in FIG. 7(b).
To facilitate a clear understanding of the foregoing, the coating of the band of glass paste has been explained with reference to FIG. 7(a), which illustrates the application of the band to a circumferential portion of a selected one of the glass substrates 31, 32, while FIG. 7(b) illustrates the two spaced glass substrates 31, 32 in the assembled and adhered-together condition. In the assembled relationship shown in FIG. 7(b), the glass paste sealing material 33 is subjected to a heat treatment to complete the sealing; the baking, however, changes the thickness of the sealing material 33 relative to the initial size of the gap between the substrates 31, 32 at the time of coating the band of sealing material thereon and thus prior to the baking step.
According to the method of coating the sealing material explained above, the band of sealing material 33 is coated along a route which has the shape of a frame, i.e., a generally rectangular path, indicated by the arrow marks shown in FIG. 7(a). The ending portion of the route overlaps a starting portion of the route, extending from the starting position C; thus, an ending portion of the band overlaps the starting portion of the band of sealing material along a common portion of the route. As a result, the band of sealing material 33 is thicker in the overlapped portion than in the remaining portions.
Moreover, in the injection process and when initially starting the application, or coating, of the band of sealing material 33 onto the glass substrate along the specified route, the amount of sealing material dispensed from the nozzle varies, or fluctuates; therefore, controlling the initial amount of sealing material at, and in the vicinity of, the starting point C is very difficult.
FIGS. 8(a) to 8(c) are cross-sectional views showing different conditions, and corresponding amounts, of the sealing material while in a holding condition at an end of a dispensing nozzle 39. As the holding condition of the sealing material 33' in the nozzle 39, the sealing material 33' may be displaced interiorally of the nozzle 39, i.e., withdrawn from the end thereof, as shown in FIG. 8(b) or the sealing material 33' may project from the end of the nozzle 39, as shown in FIG. 8(c), relative to a normal holding condition of FIG. 8(a) in which the sealing material 33' is held at a position effectively flush with the end of the nozzle 39.
Coating of the band of sealing material 33' from the nozzle 39 onto the substrate surface is achieved by applying an increased pressure to a supply of the sealing material 33' stored in the dispenser; when the coating operation is suspended, the application of increased pressure is stopped and a drawing (i.e., decreased) pressure is applied to prevent drooping of the sealing material by gravity. However, the holding conditions may differ, as shown in FIGS. 8(a) to 8(c), depending on a change of viscosity of the sealing material 33' or a small amount of leakage of the sealing material 33'.
Under the normal condition of FIG. 8(a), coating of the band of sealing material 33' can be started under a predetermined condition; however, if the sealing material 33' is withdrawn into the inside of the nozzle as shown in FIG. 8(b), the start of coating is delayed and thus the actual coating start position on the substrate surface deviates from the predetermined position (e.g., the starting position C in FIG. 7(a)). Alternatively, if the sealing material 33' projects from the end part of the nozzle as shown in FIG. 8(c), an excessive amount of material is deposited at the coating start position.
As explained above, the coating start position and the condition of the sealing material 33' may vary and thus be unstable; further, the band extending along the route from the coating start position may be overlapped and crossed by a portion of the band which progresses to the coating end position along the same route, resulting in a non-uniform thickness of the coating material in the overlapped crossed portions.
Since the space between the two glass substrates is as small as several tens of .mu.m and may range up to several hundreds of .mu.m, if the thickness of the applied coating material fluctuates, or varies, even if by only a small amount, reliable sealing between the opposing planar surfaces of the two substrates cannot be achieved. Namely, if the coating thickness is reduced at one localized position, it will permit leakage of the discharge gas supplied in the space, or gap, between the substrates; conversely, if the coating thickness is increased, it will cause a crack or a break of one of the glass substrates.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a flat display panel which is free of the above problems and, furthermore, never permits leakage of the discharge gas or the liquid crystal material received in the gap between the substrates and is not susceptible to crackage or breakage of the seal or of the substrates after the sealing process is completed.

Method of manufacturing a flat display panel and flat display panel


A self-adhering protective overlay employing a flexible sheet having a front surface, a back surface, and a periphery, with a pressure sensitive adhesive applied substantially to the periphery on the back surface. In one embodiment, a release sheet is removably adhered to the pressure sensitive adhesive prior to use After the release sheet is removed, the flexible sheet may be used and re-adhered to the release sheet for subsequent use. In an alternate embodiment, a plurality of protective overlays, without the addition of the release sheet, are arranged in a stack wherein individual flexible sheets may be separated from the stack, used, and then disposed or re-adhered to the stack for subsequent use.

Anyone who has fed an infant or had the opportunity to observe a baby eat knows all too well the difficult task of getting food into the child""s mouth. Quite often, the goal in feeding an infant is simply to get more food into his or her mouth than on the child and surrounding eating area. Food, almost inevitably then, finds its way onto the child""s clothes which can soil and permanently stain the clothing. Bibs, therefore, are often used to minimize the scattering of food and to protect the child""s clothing from food stains.
Conventional bibs are formed from cloth or other absorbent material and typically have two strings which tie around the child""s neck to hold the bid in place. Other bibs are formed from plastic and use snaps, ties, strings, hook and loop fasteners, or the like to attach around the child""s neck. More recently, some bibs have eliminated the strings and ties altogether and have instead used adhesive strips. These strips are located near the shoulder area on the backside of the bib and are used to adhere the bib to the wearer.
Particularly with younger children and infants, the bibs heretofore known in the art have not always adequately kept food and other stains from reaching the child""s clothing. One common problem encountered with feeding infants, in particular, is keeping the bib on the front of the child in an orientation which actually protects the clothing. This task is not always that simple. Infants almost instinctively tend to put everything in their mouth. Often, then, the first thing an infant wants to do is remove the bib from its useful location to his or her mouth. In other instances, the infant or child simply may not want to wear the bib and attempt to move it. Even children capable of feeding themselves may, after determining they are finished, reach down to prematurely remove their bib. The removal of the bib, however, may occur before the child""s hands, face, and eating area have been cleaned. In other instances, the bib may accidentally catch on the child""s hand or otherwise lift up and expose the child""s clothing to food. In these situations, an extra hand for a parent, baby sitter, or care taker faced with the responsibility of holding the bib down with one hand and feeding the child with the other would be helpful. Since such added help, or extra hands, are typically not available, food often ends up on the infant and the infant""s clothes despite the bib.
Another prior encountered problem is that many bibs are unable to effectively and completely prevent food and saliva from staining the infant""s cloths near the neck region. infants, for example, cannot easily control salivation, and it is not uncommon for food and saliva to run down their cheek to their clothes through openings in the neck portion of the bib. Many bibs use strings, ties, straps, or the like to fasten around the baby""s neck. In order to assure a comfortable fit, however, the bib must be fastened somewhat loosely, so as not to choke the child. Inevitably then, a gap is created through which food may fall or drop. A similar problem exists with bibs that use adhesive straps to secure the bib to the infant. These bibs commonly only have adhesive at the shoulder areas. As such, food may pass through openings along the neck portions which are not directly adhered to the overlay.
Compared to children, adults are much less apt to spill or splatter food onto their clothing. Napkins, then, are typically used instead of bibs to protect clothing. However, certain foods, such as shelled lobster and spaghetti, tend to be quite messy even for adults eating with care. In these situations, a napkin may not adequately keep food off clothing. Bibs would be practical but are often not used because of the stereotype associated with wearing a bib. A bib which not only fully protects the wearer but also remains inconspicuous would be especially welcome by adult diners.
Prior bibs are either disposable or reusable. Cloth and plastic bibs, for example, may be washed or rinsed off after each use. These reusable type bibs are advantageous in that they are durable and suited for frequent re-use. These bibs are also economical since a single bib may be repeatedly washed and used. Disposable bibs, such as those made from thin thermoplastic material, are discarded after becoming soiled. These bibs are economical in that they are very inexpensive to purchase and may be disposed after one use without great cost. At present, a bib which is both reusable and disposable after being soiled would, if inexpensively manufactured, enjoy the attributes of both the disposable and reusable bibs.
In view of the foregoing, parents and care givers of infants, as well as adults, would welcome a bib which securely adheres to the wearer yet is inexpensive and is both disposable or reusable.
The present invention is directed to a self-adhering protective overlay such as a bib, apron, napkin, or the like which securely adheres to a wearer or wearer""s clothes without the addition of snaps, ties, strings, or the like. A flexible sheet is employed which has a front surface, a back surface, and a periphery. A pressure sensitive adhesive (PSA) is applied to substantially all of the periphery on the back surface for adhering the flexible sheet to the wearer. Once this adhesive is adhered to the wearer, the protective overlay may not readily be removed and, as such, is particularly advantageous for use on infants and small children.
In one embodiment, a removable release sheet is adhered to the pressure sensitive adhesive prior to use for protecting against unwanted adhesion. After the release sheet is removed, the flexible sheet may be used and then re-adhered to the release sheet for subsequent use. Alternatively, once the flexible sheet is used, it may be discarded.
As an additional advantage, the protective overlay may be manufactured from a durable, lightweight material which is extremely inexpensive. Further, graphics such as designs, emblems, prints, or alpha-numeric characters may be placed or printed on the protective overlay to enhance its aesthetic value. Alternatively, the protective overlay may be transparent so that it is virtually unnoticeable when worn.
As another feature, a plurality of flexible sheets are arranged to form a protective overlay dispensing system. In this system, flexible sheets, without the addition of the release sheet, are arranged in a stack. Individual sheets may be removed from the stack, used, and re-adhered to the stack for subsequent use. In one embodiment, the flexible sheets are superimposed on one another to form a vertical stack. In another embodiment, the flexible sheets are attached at adjacent ends to form a rolled stack.
Other objects of the invention will, in part, be obvious and will appear hereinafter. The invention, accordingly, comprises the apparatus and method possessing the construction, combination of elements, and arrangements of parts which are exemplified in the following detailed disclosure. For a fuller understanding of the nature and objects of the invention, reference should be had to the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings.

Reusable protective overlay with pressure adhesive back


A movement operation system for autonomous moving cleaning apparatus comprises a charging dock and an autonomous moving cleaning apparatus. The charging dock includes a charging module and an infrared ray emitter. The autonomous moving cleaning apparatus includes a battery, at least one servomotor, an infrared ray receiver and a microcontroller unit. The infrared ray receiver receives an encrypted infrared signal emitted by the infrared ray emitter and sends the encrypted infrared signal to the microcontroller unit for decoding. The microcontroller unit detects whether the present voltage of the battery is higher than a charge voltage of the charging module, and generates a control signal to control the servomotor to move the autonomous moving cleaning apparatus away from the charging dock or to the charging dock for charging the battery.

U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,883,201 and 6,594,844 disclose autonomous moving cleaning apparatus that can serve as a floor sweeping machine, a vacuum cleaner or a floor moping machine. It has a plurality of sensors located at the lower side, front side or periphery to prevent strong impact when encountering obstacles, or falling to a descending staircase to result in damage of the floor sweeping machine, vacuum cleaner or floor moping machine. To avoid those apparatus from impact or falling down they have to rely on the sensors to provide correct information so that they can move forwards, decelerate, move backwards or stop moving.
However, in the aforesaid conventional techniques, malfunction often occurs to the floor sweeping machine, vacuum cleaner or floor moping machine. This is caused by too many types of lights existing in the external environments during operation. Hence when the sensors receive those lights, they cannot correctly judge or interpret to result in abnormal forward movement, deceleration, backward movement or stop. This also makes their lifespan shorter and becomes the biggest problem of the conventional products yet to be resolved.

Movement operation system for autonomous moving cleaning apparatus